The Share Network in partnership with the Basque Government organises a Regions and Cities as Sponsors Conference as well a Look and Learn visit in Bilbao (Spain), on 15 - 17 June 2022. Being both a pioneering initiative in the engagement of regional governments in complementary pathways, as well as an interesting example of multilevel governance, the conference and the visit seek to invite Share QSN partners and interested stakeholders to learn and reflect upon the Basque, Valencia and Navarra experiences in building successful multi-stakeholder community sponsorship programmes.
Lehendakari Iñigo Urkullu, President of the Basque Country on their approach to community sponsorship
Statement by Mayor of Rottenburg on the role of local authorities in community sponsorship
Coordinated by ICMC Europe, the Share Network provides a multi-stakeholder platform for mutual exchange and learning amongst regional and local actors to foster welcome, inclusion, and integration of newly arrived migrants and refugees in Europe. In 2021 it launched the Quality Sponsorship Network (QSN) to support pilot and ad-hoc sponsorship initiatives to develop into sustainable, community-driven programmes.
The QSN partnership is composed by the Basque Government (ES), Caritas International (BE), Consorzio Communitas (IT), the Féderation de l’Entraide Protestante (FEP), DiCV Cologne (DE), the Irish Refugee Council (IE), and Citizens UK (UK). One of the main objectives of the Share QSN Network is to widen engagement in community sponsorships by including regions and cities as active partners.
Presentation of the Basque community sponsorship pilot project
A leading example of regional engagement is the Auzolana (Basque for ‘Welcome’) pilot community sponsorship initiative that was launched in March 2019 to welcome five Syrian families in Basque municipalities: Bilbao, Arrigorriaga, Portugalete, Andoain and Vitoria-Gasteiz. The initiative is the first community sponsorship programme, organized and led by a regional government. The programme counts on the active participation of the UNHCR, the Spanish State Secretariat for Migration, civil society actors from Caritas Diocesana in Bilbao, Andoain and Gasteiz, and the Ignacio Ellacuría Social Foundation in Arrigorriaga and Portugalete; as well as local sponsorship volunteering groups which accompany the families’ welcoming and settlement process, while coordinating integration efforts with the municipalities where refugees are hosted. The Basque pilot programme was evaluated in 2021 with evaluation reports available in Spanish, Basque and English.
Since 2019, the regional governments of Valencia and Navarra have also launched sponsorship pilot programmes – under a similar approach as the Basque Government coordinated programme. To build on the successful first initiative, the Basque government will start a second programme to welcome Syrian refugees from Lebanon, with arrivals planned for May 2022.
The conference and Look & Learn visit will bring together representatives of European cities and regions as well as other relevant stakeholders, creating a space for discussion, knowledge sharing, exchange of best practices and capacity building among participants. The programme will focus on identifying successful regional and local approaches to sponsorship, welcome and integration and look at successful models of governance, sponsor and volunteer engagement and partnerships with local authorities.
With an ongoing war in Ukraine, thousands of regional, local and citizen-led volunteer initiatives are currently responding across Europe to house and support arriving refugees. The visit will therefore come at a crucial moment to take stock of these first citizens welcoming and solidarity initiatives and explore how these interact with state-led responses and can add to new partnerships to welcome refugees.
