The Mums@Work project comes to an end

It closes its trajectory with the celebration of the final event in Barcelona and the last meeting of the Consortium in Perugia

Since February 2021, the project Mums at Work has accompanied a total of 36 women through a personalized itinerary with individual and group activities, with the aim of improving their self-confidence, fostering the connection between them and finding out their personal and professional interests. The participants have received training in key aspects such as resolution of legal and administrative issues in relation to their documentation and immigration procedures; sexual and reproductive health; adult and child nutrition; dental health and other areas relevant to their well-being. In addition, they have attended other activities such as specialized workshops in creative photography and video, training in several languages, such as Catalan, Spanish and English, and digital literacy. The participants have also received Counselling on styling and image, with the aim of increasing their chances of finding a job, led by the renowned fashion designer Miriam Ponsa.

During the last year, the participants have entered the phase of accompaniment and job prospecting. With the support of Comunitat Activa and through individual interviews, they have outlined their work itineraries and have sought training to move towards an active job search. It is necessary to point out the close collaboration established with companies, which have opened their doors to the participants during this phase, offering training practices and showing the different job opportunities available.

Finally, it is worth highlighting the communication campaign “Mothers Month Campaign”, implemented in May 2022 with news and materials about migrant mothers in Europe and the barriers and challenges they face; and the inauguration in September 2022 of the multimedia exhibition Our Story, which is the result of one of the participatory photography workshops that were carried out within the framework of the project.

Closing Event in Comunitat Activa

In July 2023, Comunitat Activa Sants held the closing event of the pilot in Barcelona. The event hosted representatives of Aura Park Aparthotel, Asproseat Foundation, La Botiga and Group SIFU Foundation, some of the companies that have collaborated with the project by organizing visits and hosting trainee participants to recognize their participation.

One of the project participants, Ruth Michelle Barahona, shared her experience and thanked the Sifu Group for the opportunity to gain work experience and be trained in the company.

The meeting also served to strengthen relations with companies and continue working from Comunidad Activa.

International Activities

During the project, both the professionals and the participating mothers have been present at various events and conferences at a European level.

In January 2022, the Irish organization femLENS organized a visual storytelling and digital campaigns workshop to offer the necessary tools to the trainers of the organizations, who would later carry out the workshops with the participating mothers. The workshop aimed to improve the digital skills of low-skilled migrant and ethnic minority women with the final goal of creating a communication campaign about their rights.

In May 2022, the mothers participating in the project were also able to participate in the exchange meeting that took place in The Hague, where they met and shared their experiences with women from other countries on a day to celebrate and recognise the contributions of migrant mothers.

In March 2023, they participated in the Women’s Day celebration in Brussels, where an exchange with members of the European Parliament took place.

Finally, in July 2023, the last meeting of the consortium of the project took place in Perugia, organized by the Italian entity CIDIS. From ABD, the experience of the labour insertion was shared, highlighting the recruitment process of collaborating companies, the training of beneficiaries or the monitoring and evaluation measures of these activities. The participants positively highlighted the job-shadowing methodology and visits to work centres as tools to meet potential employees and discover new jobs. In addition, the final report of the project’s Advisory Board was presented and a final meeting of the consortium was held to address the sustainability of the project and future opportunities for collaboration.