NEW ABC in Melilla
Charlotte Menin the project manager of our partner COMBO met this week with the Minister of Education, Culture, Celebrations and Equality of Melilla (Spain) Elena Fernández Treviño to present the NEW ABC project and the pilot of COMBO which will be held in this autonomous city located in North Africa, on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea.
After the presentation, with a reflection on the specificity of the city of Melilla in the issue of errant minors in Europe, the Minister and COMBO found many points of contact and possible collaborations, given that both parties have the objective of promoting the inclusion of migrant children in education. Moreover, COMBO works in the field of out-of-school education, which is an additional common point, as informal and non-formal education is the responsibility of the Minister, delegate of the Autonomous City of Melilla (while formal education is a competence of the Spanish central government in Madrid).
The Minister was very sensitive to the issue of unaccompanied minors and welcomed the importance of our research-action activities, while thanking us for approaching her ministry, because the educational work of these young people in a vulnerable situation must also be approached with the resources and perspective of culture and education and not only treated as a social emergency (which is in general the case in the local context of European border). The Minister proposed us to work together on an agreement between the project carriers and her ministry, offering us a joint communication strategy for the part of the project taking place in Melilla as well as to facilitate our access to places/spaces in the city, both for activities and/or dissemination. We will work on an agreement in the next weeks.
The conversation ended around the book by Violeta Serrano, “Poder Migrante”, which the Minister strongly recommended.