The international debate acknowledges the role of migrant’s associations as a natural transnational stakeholder, capable of contributing to the welfare and in¬terculturalism of the countries they bridge, thus promoting processes of economic, social and cultural development.
Moving from this principle, the International Organization for Migration carries out initiatives aimed at strengthening the role of migrants’ associations, as a natural transnational subject and an actor of development cooperation. Since 2011, IOM Italy organizes the Associazioni Migranti per il Co-sviluppo – A.M.I.C.O. Training Course: the training aims at strengthening the capacity of migrants’ associations to plan, develop and implement transnational development projects, with a positive social, cultural and economic impact in the countries of affiliation and in Italy.
The face-to-face training has been complemented by an E-Learning package divided into 5 videos of about 30 minutes each, dealing with the main issues related to the design and implementation of a development project.
In particular:
1. Project development and implementation: the first module provides some tools and techniques to turn the idea for change into a development project. 2. The Budget: this module explains how to obtain the resources required for the project and manage all the related financial issues throughout its duration, providing tips and examples. 3. Collaboration and working in network: the purpose of the third module is explaining how to choose the right partners, and how to build and manage the partnership supporting the project 4. Communication: this module deals with sharing suggestions and good practices and it analyses the most appropriate communication channels and the most effective communication strategies. 5. Evaluation: the fifth module, finally, discusses the project evaluation, aimed not only at assessing the results that were achieved, but also at better planning the future initiatives, in order to ensure that the change settles in and remains sustainable over time.