Italy is characterized by a wide territorial disparity in terms of infrastructure, access to services and the labor market. The percentage of people at risk of poverty and social exclusion, as well as income inequality, are among the highest in the European Union. Even within the same cities, different territories coexist, with different degrees of complexity. Planning public interventions, some urban areas deserve special attention, in particular those with greater social vulnerability, where the potentially weaker social strata coexist, often also characterized by a high presence of migrant citizens.
In light of these considerations, on 1 August 2019 the Directorate General for Immigration and Integration Policies of the MLPS published a request for expression of interest for the presentation of projects dedicated to the inclusion of third-country nationals in urban areas with greater social vulnerability. This is a pilot action, aimed directly at the territories and based on the analysis of the needs expressed by local authorities, aimed at Metropolitan Cities, Regional capitals and provincial capitals with a high incidence of foreign residents.
The types of actions eligible in the projects, which can also enhance initiatives and tools already in place in the territories, include:
-Interventions aimed at the socio-labor integration of citizens of third countries with particular regard to those residing in urban areas with high social vulnerability
-creation or consolidation of multilevel territorial governance actions aimed at encouraging the innovation of the organizational processes of services aimed at foreign citizens through an integrated approach to planning interventions (e.g. operational protocols with institutions and territorial stakeholders competent in the field of consolidation of territorial networks consisting of social and health assistance services, for work, education and training, hospitality and the registry ...);
-inclusion of new generations and minors who arrive in Italy for family reunification, also aimed at combating dispersion, delay and school segregation;
- socio-labor inclusion of migrant women, in particular those who arrive in Italy for family reunification, through, for example, learning the Italian language, citizenship education, guidance and accompaniment to access services ( social, health, work ...);
- contrast to housing problems (e.g. low-threshold reception, co-housing, social concierge, rental guarantees, guidance services, intermediation and accompaniment for access to housing) in favor of categories of migrants at risk of marginalization .
Metropolitan cities, regional capitals and provincial capitals with a high incidence of foreign residents responded to the request for expression of interest, presenting as many project ideas on which they discussed with the DG. The projects admitted to financing so far are 24, carried out by the Municipalities of Ancona, Aosta, Bari, Bergamo, Bologna, Bolzano, Brescia, Catania, Campobasso, Catanzaro, Firenze, Genova, Messina, Milano, Napoli, Palermo, Parma, Piacenza, Potenza, Prato, Roma, Trento, Torino, Venezia.
The available resources amount to approximately 25 million euros from the National Fund for Migration Policies.