Context
In the Athens Coordination Centre for Migrant and Refugee issues (ACCMR), the Municipality of Athens in partnership with IOM and UNHCR, brings together 101 members which cover a vast spectrum of actors specialising in protection and integration related services.
Its main goal is the effective coordination between the municipal authorities and stakeholders to shape the necessary conditions for the smooth integration of migrants and refugees and promote social coherence.
Decsription
A key tool for ACCMR is its digital platform www.accmr.gr. This participatory platform, initiated in 2018, facilitates the mapping of services and initiatives for refugees, migrants, and local communities within the City of Athens.
It enables information exchange and referrals among professionals so that beneficiaries have adequate access to services. The ACCMR service mapping is updated monthly to provide updated and accurate information.
In March 2020, the ACCMR team, in response to the extraordinary modifications in service delivery due to the COVID-19 crisis, launched an emergency mapping building upon the existing service mapping of the ACCMR.
The process was supported by the Communicating with Communities National Working Group, coordinated by Solidarity Now and the UNHCR.
The ACCMR has also cooperated with the Refugee.info platform, making all relevant information available in Arabic, French, Urdu, English, and Farsi.
Impact
Thanks to the response of 102 organisations, the following results were obtained for the period March 16 to May 4, 2020: 63 per cent of mapped services (164 services) continued to operate; 30 new and enhanced services emerged, most of which were in the fields of Information, Health and Goods Provision; and 108 services were remotely provided in the areas of Education, Learning, Legal Counseling and Psychosocial Support.
The emergency service mapping continues to be updated in line with the ACCMR Digital Platform.
