Amsterdam is a rich ecosystem containing various institutions, ngo’s and initiatives that are committed to the well-being of newcomers. The Migration, Asylum and Undocumented Persons department of the municipality of Amsterdam has given an assignment to focus on the mental health of people with residence permit in 2025 and 2026 by deploying Cultural Mediators. They can support their fellow countrymen to get better access to health-care, to find their place in Amsterdam and to promote their well-being in a broad sense. Cultural Mediators understand the challenges of the immigrants like no other. At the same time, they also understand how the healthcare/system works in the Netherlands and they are able to build bridges between people and agencies.
Migration Inc. has been involved in this project from the start as a partner in order to seek the broadest possible support among local stakeholders who will realize this project. The assignment consists of a few phases spread over 2024, 2025 and 2026:
- Exploration phase: An initial exploration of the needs and possibilities among the formal institutions and informal parties such as foundations, community centres, initiatives, paid and voluntary Cultural Mediators etc.
- Preparation phase: Searching for collaboration partners, decision-making, drawing up plans, making agreements and practical preparation for the project.
- Formation, selection and training: Putting together a group of key persons and training this group to prepare them for their role.
- Implementation/deployment: The key persons are deployed to support immigrants in vulnerable positions and to connect them with relevant institutions
- Aftermath: Evaluation of the project and if necessary, more care for a sustainable impact
The role of Migration Inc. is to guide and support the process in all phases with strategic and operational advice, and to prepare, design and facilitate meetings as a sparring partner. In phase 3, we will create a tailor-made training for the new group of Cultural Mediators..
We are grateful and proud to be part of this special project, as it comes with new challenges, new creativity and new solutions. Want to know more? Mail us: info@migrationinc.nl
