A.M.M.I.
Via Garibaldi 13
10122 Turin TO
Italy
- International/Cultural relations
The Intercultural Mediator Multiethnic Association (A.M.M.I.) has 15 employees, approximately 45 collaborators and 61 associates. The executive board consists of six members: the president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer and two councilors. The team consists of the general manager, the head of the administration office, the project office manager, the international programme manager, an intercultural mediation project manager and two migrants welcoming project managers.
The association has annual assets of 280,000 € and its main sources of funding are public tenders (national and international), bank foundations, services rendered on behalf of third parties, membership fees and voluntary contributions from members.
The main areas of intervention are linguistic and cultural mediation, migrants welcoming, divided into emergency housing (CAS) and specific projects for vulnerable women and mother-child families, and training of intercultural mediators.
A.M.M.I. collaborates in various projects with the following main partners: CIFA, CIES, Slowfood, Amnesty International, UNHCR, Ufficio Pio, Comune di Torino, IRES Piemonte, ASGI, Ideadonna Onlus.
A.M.M.I. key objective is the generation and strengthening of advocacy actions with the territorial and national network concerning the professional figure of the intercultural mediator and the opening of new employment spaces for intercultural mediation. The Association aims to encourage, facilitate and promote the interaction and integration of migrants in the territory through the intercultural mediation service and acknowledge the irreplaceable role of this figure (understood as accompaniment, interpretation, facilitation in the relationships that the migrant has with public and private subjects and native citizens), training and welcoming of migrants.
The objectives are pursued through two main lines of action, which coincide with the association's mission:
-the provision of the intercultural mediation service for the territory, which includes training and professional development for intercultural mediators and social workers, also extended to the international level;
-reception of applicants for international protection at the C.A.S. and migrants at emergency housing structures in Turin and the metropolitan city, reception projects and support for socio-economic inclusion for vulnerable women and mother-child families.
April - December 2018. "Intercultural Mediation in support of unaccompanied and asylum-seeking children" (UASC), activated by A.M.M.I. and funded by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to create a model of intervention aimed at strengthening and validating the need for a continuous presence of the figure of the intercultural mediator during the entire process of accompaniment of unaccompanied foreign minors (MSNA) received in Piedmont, with a view to empowering the figure in all aspects: from the host community, to the relationship with the guardian, up to the contact with the various territorial services.
From April 2018. "PINSEC - Youth, women and migrants: paths of social and economic inclusion in Tunisia", co-funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation. In partnership with CIES of Rome, A.M.M.I. provides thematic expertise and training for trainers in intercultural mediation - 20 social workers of CSOs active in the field of reception, protection of rights and prevention of irregular migration in Tunisia.
As of July 2018. A.M.M.I. realizes, with the support of the Piedmont Regional Council, the photographic exhibition "MigrEye - an open eye on migration" on the migration phenomenon in Piedmont, in the last 50 years. "MigrEye" has become an itinerant project on various territories in Piedmont and outside (Università Degli Studi di Torino, Ufficio Pastorale Migranti, Museo dell'Emigrazione dei Piemontesi del Mondo etc.).
From November 2018. "PONTI Project: Social and economic inclusion, young people and women, innovation and diasporas". Co-financed by the Ministry of the Interior, A.M.M.I. provides in this project thematic expertise and training for a group of CSOs active in the accompaniment and reception of migrants returning to Ethiopia and Senegal.
From 2019. Project Municipalities-Care. A.M.M.I. provides the service of intercultural mediation with the social workers of UEPE (Interdistrict Office for External Criminal Execution) and coaching of operators for paths activated by external organisations with a need for linguistic and/or intercultural mediation.
From January 2019. FAMI project "InCome", in partnership with CIES Onlus - financial education paths for intercultural mediators.
Since March 2019. A.M.M.I. manages, in collaboration with the Foreigners Office of the City of Turin, people and families in serious housing hardship, from the buildings of the ex-MOI area, as part of the emergency housing project - "Migrazione Opportunità e Inclusione" (Migration, Opportunity and Inclusion) through the provision of reception facilities and accompaniment to social inclusion.
From November 2019. Awareness-raising day "Immigration and LGBT+" for operators of territorial services on LGBT+ issues, in collaboration with Turin City Council, LGBT+ Service and LGBT+ associations in the area.
January - November 2019. "Io Rispetto", in partnership with Amnesty International and CIFA - second phase of training and workshops on "hate language" addressed to intercultural mediators working in schools all over Italy.
January - December 2019. In collaboration with the Office of the Prisoners' Guarantor of the City of Turin and the UEPE Office, A.M.M.I. provides intercultural mediation services in prisons and jails in Turin, Novara and Biella.
From September 2019. Intercultural mediation at the counters of the Anti-Violence Centre and Relationships and Families Centre of the City of Turin, with the presence of two Arabic, Spanish and Bangla mother-tongue mediators, who conduct interviews with users, women victims of domestic violence.
From January 2020. "Design Your Impact" by Social Fare - Centre for Social Innovation. A.M.M.I. is selected by the Compagnia di San Paolo for a modular training course to develop and perfect design skills provided by the Centro per L'Innovazione Sociale - Social Fare.
From January 2020. In collaboration with the Associazione Banco Alimentare del Piemonte - Onlus (OBAP), A.M.M.I. activated the distribution of food aid to the needy from the European FEAD programme and the national programme (National Fund) of fruit and vegetables (fresh and processed) from EU-funded market withdrawals, surpluses or donations from the processing industry.
From April 2020. A.M.I. is a partner in "Avanti tutta, Avanti tutti", together with CIFA Ong, in a project funded by the Compagnia di San Paolo, for the digital inclusion of pupils during the Covid-19 health emergency.
April - June 2020. Together with CCM and World Friends, A.M.M.I. mediators were involved in "R-Esisto in strada: socio-healthcare outreach for the homeless in Turin" to combat Covid-19 through socio-healthcare activities, listening and distribution of over-the-counter medicines and hygiene kits to the homeless. There is also a telephone support line managed by medical personnel, aimed at the operators of day and night shelters, canteens, food and clothing distribution.
April - August 2020. In partnership with the Danish Refugee Council and Rainbow for Africa, A.M.M.I. mediators participated in the "Torino Street CARE" project, financed by the Compagnia di San Paolo, activating a mobile health unit with mediators and health workers who provide general medical advice, psychological support, medicines, alongside the network of fixed clinics and public facilities.
From September 2020. "Families in change and elements of interculturality" - training on child-rearing and corrective methods in different cultures, by A.M.M.I. mediators from the Maghreb area, Asia (Bangladesh), Eastern Europe, Latin America. Initiative part of the collaboration agreement with the Centre for Relationships and Families of the City of Turin;
From September 2020. "S.T.A.R.C.I.". A project to welcome and accompany vulnerable women and mother-child families to socio-economic inclusion, through the creation of innovative paths to personal and social autonomy and non-stereotypical daily empowerment activities. Project conceived by A.M.M.I. and financed by the Municipality of Turin.
As stated in point 5 (Intercultural Cities and Learning) of the ALF corporate plan, " The Foundation enhances and embeds intercultural dialogue skills and capabilities of different actors at local, national and cross-national level"; A.M.M.I. pursues the same aims, as stated in Article 4 "Aims and objectives" of its Statute. As future cities are intercultural, joining your Network means expanding our city, regional and national network. A.M.M.I. is an association created and constituted by mediators from all nationalities and ethnicities present in our territory, on which it has been working for 15 years. The mediator plays a dual role: on the one hand, he acts as a reference figure for the foreign community in our territory, and on the other, he acts as a transnational "bridge" between the territory in which he lives and the region to which he belongs.
Becoming part of the ALF Network, would allow us to include our territory in the international dynamics and to promote internationalisation even more intensively, to involve other partners already present in our networks, to share and strengthen our experience and professionalism through the exchange of good practices and the comparison with all the Network partners.
Joining the ALF network means strengthening the impact of our initiatives, receiving the right impulses to enhance A.M.M.I.'s activities and skills. In order to operate in a functional way and adapt the intercultural language to new needs, it is essential to work in synergy: as an association of linguistic and cultural mediation, we believe that the ALF network represents the perfect dimension within which to operate, confront each other and exchange good practices.