There are more than 200 million people in the world who do not live in the country of their birth, and if you are one of them you already discovered that belonging is easy as long as you are in your nation state. But what happens if you leave your country of birth for better or worse?
What about belonging? Inclusion? What about those who due to dire circumstances had to leave their countries as in haste as refugees?
Inclusion for migrants and refugees is one of the primordial questions when it comes to discussions about inclusion and integration at national and city levels in Europe.
However, national and supranational as well as urban policies aiming at the inclusion of migrants and refugees remain poor on participation - in other words, they are rarely informed by the very subjects they mean to include – migrants and refugees. This hampers efforts on the potential inclusion of migrants and refugees long term at the fundamental level.
The guest of our second episode has set to change that, at city, national and EU levels.
Leader in her own right Sabina Kekic is known in the European circles as the youngest coordinator of the EU Urban Agenda Partnerships.
She is the Senior Board Advisor Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) in the Netherlands. Before assuming this position Sabina served as a policy advisor on European Affairs at The City of Amsterdam for the City of Amsterdam and as a policy advisor for the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Coordinator of the EU Urban Agenda Partnership for Inclusion of Migrants and Refugees.
Building on scientific, practical as well as her personal experience as a migrant herself, Kekic blazes new trends, challenges the status quo and helps design new policies and methods for the benefits of inclusion of all, while giving a voice to many who were not heard before. Her mission starts with the simple question: “How would you feel if there were policies made about women, and there were no women at the table?”
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sabina-kekic-5b733a51/
Website of the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers, The Netherlands: https://www.coa.nl/nl/het-coa
Find our Host and Executive Producer Dr Orna Rosenfeld at: www.ornarosenfeld.com