Know your Neighbour
Connecting people from different communities
Know Your Neighbor (KYN) aims at bringing together refugees and locals through different digital and “pen friend” channels in the views of helping them connect on a personal level.
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Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, said “we begin to see a certain solidarity [in managing the refugee crisis]. I believe that a much greater solidarity is needed. But I also know that solidarity is voluntary. It must come from the heart. It can not be imposed.”
The spirit of our project and the entire team of KYN, are reflected in this quote.
The integration of refugees is not just, to learning French (for non francophone), access to housing and employment. It also goes by the neighborly relations, friendship, mutual assistance between the inhabitants. It provide an opening to the French culture and to the national community. Daily social relations involved in welfare or evil be a refugee can experience living in another country. They should not be neglected. This is what is at the heart of this project: intercultural, promotion of social diversity, the culture and solidarity charter and the activities organized by social centers, which, moreover, some refugees participate.
This is for KYN to develop social integration among all the actors addressing to refugees. We want to create synergies among the various associations and the state, refugees and the local population in order to innovate in this area.
Refugees, empower them!
A key is undoubtedly the participation of beneficiaries or users to the development of the project. Our primary source of idea is the refugees themselves. In the field of asylum, refugees are thus perceived as project partners and not as mere recipients. This approach, which defeats the logic of assistantship, further allows the construction of projects that truly reflect the ideas, motivations and choices of refugees. Social integration can also be seen as a tool for the professional integration. The practice of volunteering allows refugees to practice the language, to gain experience and knowledge and expand contacts with the host society.
Their participation at the project design and help to build a real “living together”, which is beneficial for refugees and the host community. Indeed, developing the skills of refugees offers them the opportunity to better contribute to the social and economic life. The most important is to refugee at the heart of this social approach and meet those expectations so it does feel more like a “foreigner” but actually be part of society.
By integrating them to the process of creating a project, involving them in the establishment or by simply following his ideas and initiatives. In this way, innovation benefits the population at different levels and helps refocus the whole project. Smart integration is when the person becomes an actor of his project.
Help Refugees Sciences Po:
They work with and for refugees and graduates has made known above all for the establishment of tandems job. These tandems associate graduates refugee students from the same discipline. This program is accompanied by a weekly seminar. We want to go further with this type of association, to create synergies with the private sector. This association will help us to get a first contact with refugees communities. It is also important for the refugee who are already enrolled as ambassadors in their own community.
Municipality and Regional Council:
With this support, KYN may develop several cultural partnerships with municipal and inter-municipal libraries, but also the municipal swimming pools and other activities. For example, we could organize a day cultures where different communities (refugees or not) could present their culture: food, clothing, language. The cultural exchange is to occur. This is creating festive events outside the framework of charity. Integrating remains very difficult in rural areas in particular, this is why it is very important to bring that action at local level: an example that it can be applied everywhere. Presenting the arrival of refugees as a benefit to the rural world: sometimes it helps keep the bakery, the corner post office.
The private sector : double benefices!
This is our strength : sharing of knowledge between protagonists. It involves new types of partnerships which combine private sector and association. This opening up of universe can pool the expertise and resources of different actors, and therefore develop more effective projects to meet the socio-economic challenges faced by refugees.
We could arrange a win-win action through “co-Training “ in partnership especially with some companies that clearly opens to those initiative:
Total, SNCF, Orange, Club Med, Vinci, Carrefour, Auchan, PSA or Adecco. Most of those companies are already linked professionally with Sciences Po and can be the ramp that could drive us in a new social paradigm.
However, companies increasingly agree to involve themselves in associative projects by giving free time for their employees. Our team will be in charge to promote the benefits of these activities to the companies’ human resources. In addition of funding us, companies will also provide technical skills in a social program.