Programa Mujer, Salud y Violencia Women, Health and Violence Programme Bilbao (Basque Country, Spain) EU-MIA RESEARCH REPORT Francesco Tarantino FIERI January 2014

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Programa Mujer, Salud y Violencia Women, Health and Violence Programme Bilbao (Basque Country, Spain)

EU-MIA RESEARCH REPORT Francesco Tarantino FIERI January 2014 The materials in this publication are for information purposes only. While ITCILO, FIERI and COMPAS endeavour to ensure accuracy and completeness of the contents of this publication, the views, findings and content of this discussion paper are those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect the official position of ITCILO, FIERI and COMPAS.

© 2013 International Training Centre of the ILO in Turin (ITCILO) Forum Internazionale ed Europeo di Ricerche sull’Immigrazione (FIERI) Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS), University of Oxford

This discussion paper is financed by the European Commission and published in the context of the project “An integrated research and cooperative learning project to reinforce integration capacities in European Cities-EU-MIA, EC Agreement Nr HOME/2011/EIFX/CA/1996”. The content of this discussion paper does not reflect the official opinion of the European Commission. Index

1. Introduction...... 6

2. Operational Context...... 7

2.1 Key characteristics: demographic mix, socio-economic indicators and main challenges ...... 7

2.2 Policy context: Local policy community and key interventions ...... 8

3. The Functioning Practice (FP): Women, Health and Violence – Mujer, Salud y Violencia...... 11

3.1 Objectives, methodology: an intensive “kitchen work” ...... 11

3.2 Partners and network: Módulo AuzoLan and the network of associations...... 12

3.3 Chronology and funding of activities...... 14

3.4 Outcomes, evaluation ...... 17

4. Conclusions...... 19

Bibliography...... 20

Annexes...... 21

Annex 1 - Interviews ...... 21 1. Introduction

EU-MIA (European Migrant Integration Academy) is a research-based co-operative learning and training initiative targeting and directly involving local stakeholders responsible for the development and implementation of local level integration policies in selected European cities.

The project is structured in three phases:

1. Background research, to create a repertoire of promising practices in the field of integration at city and neighbourhood level and selection of 10 Functioning Practices (FP) from throughout the European Union 2. Fieldwork missions in the cities where the selected Functioning Practices are located, based on in-depth interviews with local stakeholders and the production of short videos. 3. Development of a cooperative learning kit based on the research component of this project which forms the basis of the training initiative Migrant Integration Academy.

We do not look for perfect models of integration policy which can be adopted wholesale across different city contexts, but we believe there is, across Europe, a wealth of successful initiatives carried out at city level and in partnership with civil society. Starting from this assumption, we define Functioning Practices (FP) not as the best practices on integration in Europe but as practices relating to successful initiatives that make an outstanding contribution to manage issues at hand.

The selection of Functioning Practices was based on three tools:

• literature review and web browsing; • consultation of experts and city networks; • nominations (including a majority of self-nominations) by local stakeholders through a Call for Practices.

These were the criteria used for the selection of Functioning Practices1:

a. innovative and successful measures in any fields which have clear goals in terms of integration of people with a migrant background, be they migrant-focused or not; b. measures carried out at local level; c. measures involving public authorities; d. live actions or recently closed actions, i.e. practices concluded within the past two years and consolidated measures that have been implemented for at least two years.

The following sections present the Functioning Practice “Women, Health and Violence – Mujer, Salud y Violencia” carried out in Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain. Empirical findings are based on analysis of official documents, interviews with key actors, stakeholders and beneficiaries. The report is practically oriented given that its aims is to foster exchanges of functioning practices, learning from experience and development of knowledge-based policies: it analyses how the practice concretely works and assesses the

1 For further details see http://www.eu-mia.eu/

6 main achievements and assets, on one hand, and pitfalls and difficulties, on the other hand. It ends with a look towards future on possible follow up and transfers.

2. Operational Context

This section aims to provide an overview over recent patterns of immigration and integration in Bilbao, with particular emphasis on women with migrant background.

2.1 Key characteristics: demographic mix, socio-economic indicators and main challenges

Bilbao is the biggest city of the Basque Country Autonomous Community (Comunidad Autónoma del País Vasco), capital of the Province of Bizkaia and the tenth largest city in Spain with a population of 349,869 citizens in 2013. Its metropolitan area, called “Greater Bilbao”, is one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the north of Spain roughly counting 850,000 people.

The Basque Country has traditionally had a strong culture of autonomy and decentralization. In the 19th century, the Bilbao turned into an important industrial pole of the country, especially focusing on the iron, steel and shipbuilding industries. In the 20th century, the industrial growth was accompanied by an important development of commerce and finance, in parallel with a further high increase of population. During the 50’s and the 60’s Bilbao experienced a second phase of industrialisation, based on heavy manufacturing, which led to massive immigration from other Spanish regions. A strong economic and labour crisis affected the Basque Country and city of Bilbao in the 70’s, corresponding with the oil crisis which affected the international economy. The unemployment rate reached the peak of 25% in the middle of the 80’s and the city went through a huge population decline; Bilbao’s population decreased by about 70,000 citizens between 1980 and 1995 (Eustat, 2006).

The city regeneration process was complex and involved a wide range of actors and stakeholders. Political leaders at the city, provincial and regional levels realised the importance of a structural change when the crisis was nearing its peak (Rodriguez et al, 2001; Plöger, 2007). The high level of autonomy granted to Basque Country was an important pull factor in the city regeneration process.2 The Territorial Plan for Bilbao, presented in 1989, constituted the main framework for this important process and the role played by “Bilbao Ria 2000” Agency – a development agency created in 1992 with the aim of managing the revitalisation of large old industrial areas – was significant. Fewer funds were invested in the social side of the process, although two other specific agencies were created by the Municipality.

2 The authority to decide on the allocation of resources is a major advantage of the special Basque status compared to other regions. The Basque Country (País Vasco) is the only Spanish Autonomous Community holding the main tax collecting powers. The provincial government then redistributes the taxes. A proportion, the so-called “cupo”, which is annually negotiated, is transferred to the central government in Madrid. Cfr. CASE, 2007.

7 Since 2000 the population of Bilbao has been increasing. This increase is mainly due to a growth in foreign immigration. The year 2000 is considered by researchers and public actors as the starting point of foreign immigration to Bilbao.

The foreign population grew from 15,198 people in 1998 to 148,165 people in 2013, with a peak of 151,894 people in 2012. From 2000 to 2012, immigration increased each year, while 2013 was the first year in which a slight decrease was registered (Ikuspegi, 2013).3

Today, the foreign population represents 8.15% of the total and mostly (83.8%) comes from non-EU countries4 49% comes from Latin American, 24% from North and sub-Saharan Africa, 18% from Europe – especially from Romania – and 9% from Asia. About 50% of the foreign population is composed of women, although this percentage is higher for Latin-American immigrants. This rate has particular relevance because the selected functioning practice specifically targets foreign women.5

All ten most-represented nationalities in Bilbao decreased between 2012 and 2013. This means that the decrease of immigrant population is visible across all national groups to varying degrees. In 2013, the first migrant group was Bolivian, followed by Colombian, Moroccan, Romanian, Chinese, Paraguayan, Ecuadorian, Brazilian, Algerian and Senegalese. The number of Bolivians, Colombians and Ecuadorians decreased more than other groups, from 2010 to 2013.

The immigrant population decline seems to be related to the economic crisis and labour market situation. This is illustrated by the relevant number of voluntary returns that were registered by the Municipality.

When looking closely at the three nationalities which decreased the most, naturalisation processes could provide another valid explanation for this important change in Bilbao’s immigrant presence; when a migrant acquires the nationality they stop being counted as foreigners.6 In fact, thanks to bilateral agreements, established between the Spanish government and many Latin American countries, it is easier for immigrants coming from these countries to acquire the Spanish nationality.

2.2 Policy context: Local policy community and key interventions

The functioning practice “Women, Health and Violence – Mujer, Salud y Violencia” developed by Bilbao Office of Equality, Cooperation and Citizenship, is focused on prevention through the empowerment of migrant women, through a) health self-management, b) sexual and reproductive health promotion and c) gender violence prevention. It belongs to different and very specific policy fields: immigrant integration and

3 In 2013 1.668 immigrants less than 2012 are residing in the City of Bilbao. 4 Source: Bilbao Municipality. 5 Immigrant women residing in Bilbao proceed from these geographical areas: Latinoamerica 61%, EU-25 6%, Bulgaria and Romania 9%, Rest of Europe 2%, North Africa 6%, Rest of Africa 8%, Nort America 1%, China 6%, Rest of Asia and Oceania 2% (source: City of Bilbao, Immigration Office). 6 Interview with Maria Begoña Cortazar, Director of Immigration Office, Equality, Cooperation and Citizenship Area, City of Bilbao, Bilbao, 31 may, 2013.

8 intercultural policies, equality and non-discrimination policies, gender-based policies. In order to simplify, and according to Bilbao City Council’s view, we could say that the practice refers to managing diversity policies.

The macro-legal framework of the measures adopted in this policy fields by the City is provided by the Spanish Law n.7/1985 regulating structures and powers of local governments. Articles from 25 to 28 of this law give the local authorities powers also in the field of rights, freedom and social integration of foreign- born citizens. In particular, Art. 28 allows local authorities to organise supplementary activities, especially “those related to education, culture, the promotion of women, housing, health and the protection of the environment”.7 Within this framework, the City adopted a strong gender-based perspective with the aim to detect and prevent differences in integration between men and women. Furthermore, the migratory profile of female migrants in Bilbao justifies this perspective.

Although the functioning practice “Women, Health and Violence – Mujer, Salud y Violencia” started in 2008, this action is included in The Local Action Plan for Management of Diversity (2011-2013) developed by Bilbao Office of Equality, Cooperation and Citizenship within the OPENcities project, aiming at creating a network of cities able to manage the diversity in an integrated way.8 The Plan aims at “fostering integration and co-existence in diversity, with the target audience for the schemes being the population at large” (Plan, p.13). The Plan, which was to be implemented over the 2011-2013 period, includes a wide platform of public and private stakeholders, belonging to different governance levels. The platform includes: City Departments, Municipal Office of the Plan for the Regeneration of some areas, Provincial Departments, Research and University Institutions, NGO’s, Public Development Agencies and other private sector actors.9 Another important stakeholder is the Local Migration Council, a collegiate body for consultancy and information purposes that aims at improving participation among migrants associations.

The Plan is divided into ten action areas, corresponding to different measures and programmes: 1) study and analysis of immigration in the city, 2) training, 3) networking, 4) employment, 5) housing, 6) education, 7) social insertion and reception, 8) culture and diversity, 9) gender and 10) participation.

The functioning practice “Women, Health and Violence – Mujer, Salud y Violencia” is included in action 9 (Gender) aiming at a) including the intercultural perspective in the Equality Plan, b) preventing the generation of conflicts within the household caused by the change in roles, c) adjusting the programs on awareness and prevention of domestic violence to cater for the group of non-national women, d) improving self-management in matters of sexual and reproductive health. The related strategic theme underlined in the Plan for this action is integration.

7 Art. 28, Law 7/1985, 2 April, Rules on Local Government. (Source: Local Action Plan for Management of Diversity, p.5). 8 OPENcities is a British Council project funded by URBACT and led by Belfast City Council in collaboration with a network of European cities. The partner cities include Bilbao, Cardiff, Dublin, Dusseldorf, Nitra, Poznan, Sofia and Vienna (www.opencities.eu). 9 All the actors involved in the Platform are: Department of Equality, Cooperation and Citizenship of the City of Bilbao (leading actor), the Department of Citizens Relations, the Department of Culture and Education, the Department of Social Action, the Municipal Office of the Plan for the Regeneration of Bilbao la Vieja, San Francisco and Zabala; at the Bizkaia Provincial level the Department of Equality and Citizen Rights of Provincial Government of Bizkaia is also included. Other involved private actors are Lan Ekintza Strategy Observatory, the Department of Sociology of the University of the Basque Country, the Institute of Human Rights of Deusto University, Harresiak Apurtuz (coordinating actor for NGO’s in the Basque Country supporting immigrants), Alhondinga Bilbao S.A., Bilbao Metropoli 30, the Ikuspegi-Basque Observatory of Immigration, Biltzen-Coordination Centre Community Initiatives.

9 The Political Area of the Municipality in charge of developing diversity managing policies, more specifically, integration and intercultural policies, is the Department of Equality, Citizenship and Cooperation (Área de Igualdad, Ciudadanía y Cooperación) which manages policies in the field of gender equality, gender-based violence, development cooperation, immigration and coexistence. The political representative of this Area is the Councillor Oihane Agirregoitia Martínez, a member of EAJ-PNV (Euzko Alderdi Jeltzalea-Partido Nacionalista Vasco/Nationalist Basque Party) – a party which has been holding absolute political majority in the City Council since local elections in 2011.10 Within this Department, there are three main areas in which it operates: Equality, Cooperation and Citizenship. The last one is in charge of immigration issues and the “immigration equipe” belongs to this Area. Before 2007, Immigration equipe was included in Social Action and Housing Department. From 2007 an autonomous status was given to this Area. This change was really appreciated by officials and functionaries because the new organization allows a more cross intervention not only connected with social action.

Integration and interculturalism, according to Bilbao City and European perspectives, is a two-way process since it affects both immigrants and the native population. The aim is to achieve a high level of social cohesion and coexistence among the migrant population and natives.11 For this reason, official documents and official policies developed by the City frame all the measures and interventions as generalist policies aiming at achieving coexistence and social cohesion, without specifically targeting the immigrant population.

Two different and important intercultural policies carried out by the Municipality show a different approach which is more migrants-specific. The Bilbao Local Council of Immigration, which is a space of active participation for immigrants created by the Municipality with the aim of improving coexistence and dialogue between migrants and natives, is an important tool of diversity management in the City. The Council holds advisory and informative functions on integration and coexistence policies of the City and it is an important representation space for migrants’ associations.12 The Local Council includes political parties representatives, around 20 migrants’ association and it is structured through a Plenary Assembly, an Executive Commission and different thematic groups working on communication and participation issues, gender-based issues and awareness campaigns.

In the same way, another important policy, developed by the Equality, Citizenship and Cooperation Area of Municipality, is the Accompaniment to Family Reunification Pilot Programset up in January 2012. The programme, aims at supporting the reunifications processes, specifically working for “fostering migrants stability in receiving society and improving coexistence and social cohesion”.13

10 In 2011 local election EAJ-PNV party obtained absolute political majority for the first time in Bilbao history. For this reason in the current Council 15, out of 29 councillors, are expression of this party. 11 Interview with Maria Begoña Cortazar, Director of Immigration Team, Bilbao City Council, 31 may 2012. 12 Funciontioning and Organization Rule Book of Bilbao Local Immigration Council, City of Bilbao, p. 4. 13 Program of family reunification accompaniment, City of Bilbao, p. 3.

10 Many other relevant projects are also being developed by the City in this policy field: a pilot programme on city and neighbourhood coexistence, a programme on conflicts prevention, a three-year running project on coexistence developed by neighbourhood associations and migrants’ associations, training sessions for officials and associations’ leaders and a special anti-rumours programme has also started in the neighbourhood of Rekalde.

3. The Functioning Practice (FP): Women, Health and Violence – Mujer, Salud y Violencia

3.1 Objectives, methodology: an intensive “kitchen work”

In 2007, the Women City Council spread the news that a foreign woman had died due to a clandestine abortion and it was not the first time this had happened. A complex process of reflection began within the local institutions on women’s sexual and reproductive health issues, and on the problem of gender-based violence. The Municipality decided to launch a consultation with the migrants’ associations in the city in order to understand the problem in-depth and to envisage an adequate response. The collaboration with the migrants’ associations was facilitated by the Association Mujeres del Mundo, which brings foreign and Basque women together. In particular, Itziar Azpeitia, technical officer of the Municipality, was one of the founders of the programme.

City officials conducted 70 interviews with foreign women through the associations’ network that was already collaborating with the local institution. This important “kitchen work”, which included a careful preparatory work and a critique dialogue, led to some particularly relevant findings, objectives and to a specific methodological approach: a. It highlighted the starting premise of any policy action on the issue, that being the “multiple discrimination” immigrant women are subjected to. “Multiple discrimination” derives from being both a woman – therefore discriminated against – and an immigrant – hence more vulnerable because of her migration background. This multiple discrimination was defined as “universal” since it is irrespective of culture, country of origin, and religion and, thus, it emerges as a universal characteristic of all foreign women resident in Bilbao.14 b. It reinforced the link between migrants’ associations and the Municipality, with women in particular. It is worth underlying that all the involved Municipality officers since the beginning are women. A mutual trust relationship was then created and it turned out to be essential for the profitable outcome of the project design and for the development of the undertaken initiatives. Therefore, the relationship between

14 Source: Interview with Goizane Mota Gago, 31 May 2013, Bilbao. See also: Mujer, Salud y Violencia, Presentation of Program 2008-2013, Equality, Cooperation and Citizenship Office, City of Bilbao, p. 5.

11 foreign women and local institution went beyond the empowerment scheme, typical of several policy- making frames concerning migrants’ integration, by envisaging some rooms for project co-designing for the women involved in the most important associations. c. It allowed the definition of a clear strategic objective: prevention through empowerment. The specific purpose of the practice was to manage freedom and autonomy in life decision-making of foreign women. The aim is, thus, to work on the integration of foreign women. The methodology of women empowerment is then the core element of this functioning practice (FP). The programme, since its first edition, has planned the use of training tools in order to empower foreign women in managing their own life, health and relationships as immigrant women. It refers, moreover, to the needs and the socio-emotional needs of women regarding health (physical and emotional wellness). The empowerment, though, must unfold starting from the communities they refer to and from their own families. d. It allowed to identify two methodological axes (ejes metodológicos), on the basis of which the practice develops. The former is represented by the health promotion for women, intended as both physical and emotional wellness and basic need. The latter is represented by the prevention of gender-based violence, starting from the awareness and identification of such violence, to its causes, its process, and its indicators.15 e. It allowed to identify three cross axes, characterizing the planned actions and defining the borders and target of the guidelines for operating. The first one consists of the cultural diversity of those women who are the beneficiaries of the practice. The second one refers to the preferential focus on some especially vulnerable communities, such as the ones coming from Maghreb and Sub-Saharan Africa. The third one is constituted by the promotion and increase of self-esteem, especially for young women. f. It allowed identifying a first group of women to include in the first project edition and in the planned training activities. The first involved group, in 2008, was mainly formed by Latin-American women (Colombian) as well as some Chinese, Romanians and Roma.

3.2 Partners and network: Módulo AuzoLan and the network of associations

Auzolan, the main partner of the project

The Municipality’s only partner in this FP is Módulo Auzolan (meaning “community work” in the Basque language). It is a bio-psycho-social care centre, working in Bilbao since 1982. Formally constituted as a private association, the public authority has been entrusting Módulo Auzolan with part of its care and social services for a long time and through dedicated appointments.16

This group was born in the district of Irala, within the feminist and neighbourhood associations environment, which, during the years following the end of the Franco dictatorship, organized to fill the gap of public

15 Mujer, Salud y Violencia, Presentation of Program 2008-2013, Equality, Cooperation and Citizenship Office, City of Bilbao. 16 More info available on the partner website: www.moduloauzolan.org

12 assistance concerning the health and living conditions of many women. In 1995, Módulo Auzolan moved to the district of San Francisco - Bilbao La Vieja, a more central area that, some years later, became the multi- ethnic zone of the city. The association offices were donated by the Municipality. Fourteen professionals are currently working for Auzolan (doctors, gynecologists, psychologists, lawyers), mostly women. The centre provides psychological care to women, legal counselling, specific visits on sexual and reproductive health, medical counselling on adult and childhood mental health, and care for drug addicts. Since the beginning of its activity, Módulo Auzolan has been dealing with 38,547 patients, 24,877 of whom received counselling regarding sexual and reproductive health.17

The role of Módulo Auzolan within the FP is predominantly operational, though it always takes part, with the officials of the Municipality, in the designing and re-planning of some actions. Many of Módulo Auzolan’s professionals are directly involved in training women and in planning empowerment paths. Most of the training activities are delivered in the same offices of the partner headquarters.

There are three main reasons why the Municipality chose this strategic partner both for the project design and especially for the FP implementation: the specific experience in gender violence prevention and promotion of women health, the multidisciplinary nature of the working team, and the strategic location of its offices and traditional fields of action, corresponding to the city areas with the highest concentration of immigrants.18 Since its starting phase, Módulo Auzolan has played a relevant role of supporting the analysis of the problem and the action planning, even though through a less formalized role. The relatively small city size and the presence of a considerable neighbours’ - women and, later on, migrants’ - associations network, have favoured the establishment of informal relationships among the different actors. In fact, as already mentioned, several Municipality officials have a background based on the city associations’ participation. Moreover, the contribution of Auzolan turned out to be important also for the project methodological choice, thanks to a relevant experience in the same field. The relations between Municipality officials and Auzolan personnel involved in the FP are excellent and characterized by a high degree of formal and informal relationship, fostering the development of constructive links. Periodical meetings are planned between the Municipality official who coordinates the project and the three supervisors of Auzolan for this project. In these meetings of team coordination, some rooms are left for shared assessment, content planning, and orientation and general development of the project.

Stakeholders network

Beside the presence of Módulo Auzolan, mainly involved in the training activity and empowerment of foreign women, it is important to underline the presence of a stakeholders network involved in the other project action; planning the organisation of seminars and workshops of information and awareness on the issues of

17 Source: Interview with Anna Fernandez de Garayalde, Director of Auzolan, 31 may 2013; www.moduloauzolan.org 18 Mujer, Salud y Violencia, Presentation of Program 2008-2013, Equality, Cooperation and Citizenship Office, City of Bilbao.

13 gender-based violence and women’s health. These associations and organisations are working with migrants at the district level and they are in charge of recruiting people interested in attending the seminars.

The organisations involved in this action are about fifteen: migrants’ associations, voluntary associations providing support in situations of gender violence, of economic difficulty, of disability, and of drug addiction rehabilitation.19 The information and awareness workshops are managed and delivered by trainers of the association Zirikatuz Feminista Taldea which was selected by the Municipality to deliver this kind of workshops. Two to five workshops are planned per year with each organization, focusing on reproductive and sexual health, as well as gender-based violence.

The stakeholders network, though, is mainly participating in the organisation of the seminars and in recruiting interested foreign women, without a strong active role in defining contents of workshops, directly decided by the programme team. Some associations report a weak network coordination and a total lack of cross relations among the different actors of the network, though many of them work together in other projects at the district level. The lack of budget dedicated to this network support and coordination action seems to justify such an evaluation. Networking activities are often underestimated in budget projects, as well as coordination of network actors in terms of human resources dedicated. This can decrease the number of project outputs and successes.

Nevertheless, the stakeholders network involved in this FP action plays a fundamental and widespread role within the various districts and foreign communities, through a direct contact with women and within a strongly intercultural environment.20

3.3 Chronology and funding of activities

The functioning practice “Women, Health and Violence” is strategically founded on the empowerment of immigrant women in Bilbao and was formally launched in 2008 with a small budget of €10,000 (funded by the Basque Government for €6,850 and co-funded by the Municipality for €3,150). The following year, only the Municipality funded the project through its own funds, with a total budget of about €19,000 euros. Over time, also thanks to European Integration Funding, the total budget was increased, reaching €21,500 in 2010 (€15,000 from the national administration and the rest from the Municipality), €20,000 in 2011 (€15,000 from the national administration and the rest from the Municipality), and €25,600 in 2012 (€19,200 from the national administration and the rest from the Municipality). The programme total budget further increased in 2013, counting €34,884 equally provided by the State (in the framework

19 The associations and organisations that are part of the stakeholders network are: Asociación Gaztaroa, Asociación Margotu Elkartea, Asociación Mujeres del Mundo-Babel Munduko Emakumeak, Asociación Posada de los Abrazos, Asocolvas (As. De colombianos y colombianas del Paìs Vasco), Caritas Diocesana de Bilbao- Centro Ekin, Caritas Diocesana de Bilbao – Centro Hargindegi, Cear Euskadi (As. Mujeres africanas), Centro de Formacion de la Mujer del Peñascal (Neighborhood women asociation), Fundacion Peñascal – Centro de Formacion Profesional, Fundaciòn Sindrome Down, Harresiak Apurtuz (Coordinating Basque NGO operating in migrants support), Medicos del Mundo, Osatu, Pisos de Acogida-Ayuntamento Bilbao. 20 Several interviews were conducted to associations and organisations of the stakeholders network: Asociación Margotu Elkartea, Caritas Diocesana de Bilbao – Centro Hargindegi, Cear Euskadi (As. Mujeres africanas), Medicos del Mundo. Bilbao, 17 and 18 September 2013.

14 of European Integration Funds) and the Municipality.21 Such a funding path shows an important and progressive increase in the available resources and, consequently, an evolution of the undertaken actions. There are four operational guidelines:

1. training of empowerment agents; 2. information and raising awareness for stakeholders; 3. pilot action concerning female genital mutilation; 4. multilingual Guide for women.

Empowering immigrant women

This action represents the core issue of the programme. The specific objective is to train Empowerment Agents. The specific target are women belonging to “focal communities” for their specific vulnerability and for their belonging to “strategic communities”, relevant for their numeric importance. In the former group, we can find “difficult access” women (in the programme first edition, Chinese, Romanian and Roma women). Afterwards, the Maghreb and Sub-Saharan African communities have also been considered as “focal communities”, presenting special vulnerability characteristics. Women belonging to strategic groups, on the other hand, are those ones belonging to national groups particularly numerous in the city, mainly Latin-American women.

In the following editions, though, the selection criteria was improved and structured. The women included are selected on the basis of following criteria: knowledge of the Spanish language, the presence of social and leadership skills, the presence of a wide network of relationships and the availability to participate. At the beginning, women belonging to the associations which the local administration held relations with were invited to participate. From the 2011 edition, it was chosen to particularly involve the women that took part in the associations of the Immigration Local Council of Bilbao City (maximum two women per association). This allows to reach a broader and more formalised network of foreign women and to especially involve community leaders, able to enhance the “multiplying effect” envisaged by the project methodology. The training session consists on ten hours distributed in five weeks. At the end, the women attain a certificate and accept the responsibility to play the multiplying role within their own communities and through the network they belong to.22 The first editions of the programme had also scheduled the constitutions of mixed training groups with women belonging to different national communities. Afterwards, for training needs, the group were organised by nationality which enables and reinforces freedom and confidence to share experiences with other women. The training sessions are mostly held by professionals and trainers of Módulo Auzolan.

21 Source: Immigration Office, Equality-Cooperation and Citizenship Area, City of Bilbao. 22 The topics handled during the training are: the concepts of sex and gender, love, self-esteem, skills, the fundamental rights of women, gender violence, prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, contraceptive methods.

15 Information and awareness workshops

The second action planned by the FP envisages workshops organised through the project’s stakeholders network in order to inform and raise awareness on the themes of gender violence prevention and women health. The first edition of the workshops took place in 2009 and eighteen workshops were organised. They are mainly organised as seminars and take place in the offices of the different participation associations and are open to all the interested women. The contents are established by the Municipality in coordination with the organisations involved, and the workshops are delivered by personnel specifically hired for that purpose. This way, beside the organisation of workshops, specific documents and tools could be distributed and shared. Through this action, it is also possible to reach some cross-cutting objectives that are particularly relevant: a) directly assessing needs and necessities of foreign women within the places they mostly attend; b) promoting exchange and intercultural moments between the foreign and the Basque women that sometimes take part in the workshops; c) reinforcing the relationships between the city administration and the involved associations. Usually a pair of seminars is proposed to each association; one on gender-based violence and the other on women’s health.

Pilot intervention in FGM (Female Genital Mutilation)

The increase in the 2013 budget is mainly due to the launch of a test on the delicate issue of female genital mutilation (FGM). Collaboration with the doctors and specialists of Módulo Auzolan highlighted that this problem is becoming particularly relevant, not only for immigrant women but mostly for their daughters born in Spain and often brought to their countries of origin in order to be subjected to the practice. Starting from a study by the anthropologist Adriana Kaplan from Autonomous University of Barcelona – spotting the 28 African countries still using this practice – the immigration experts of Municipalities identified about 772 women from high-risk countries, meaning 4.6% of all the foreign women in Bilbao (Kaplan Marcusán and López Gay, 2010). Most of them are from Nigeria, Guinea-Bissau, Cameroon, Senegal, and Ghana. In the 2013 edition, thus, an ad hoc workshop was realised, involving nine women coming from Nigeria, Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Congo, with an average age of 32. These women had already participated in the “traditional” training as empowerment agents in the previous editions of the programme. Almost all of them were mothers and some of their daughters were still in their country of origin. The workshop consisted in five meetings, between April and May 2013, conducted by socio-health and psycho-social professionals.

A guide for all women

The last field of operation planned by the programme is the realisation and diffusion of a multilingual guide for women. The first edition was raised in 2008. It is a methodological tool also used in the training courses for empowerment agents, with the purpose of training and raising awareness on the core themes of the programme. In 2013, a new guide was realised, showing a more intercultural approach. For this reason,

16 the name was changed from “Guide for women” to “Guide for all women”. It targets all women, since the assumption is the universality of the issue, irrespective of national origins or culture. The guide, translated into eight languages, is also distributed for free in the schools and in the socio-health services of the city and in all those bodies that focus on women.

3.4 Outcomes, evaluation

Monitoring and evaluation is conducted for the different actions of the project. In this section, we are going to outline both the quantitative and the qualitative results of the various actions, by starting from the evaluations done by the Municipality coordination team of the project and from the interviews carried out during our field-visit.

Concerning the training of the empowerment agents, 167 women have been empowered since the start of the project. 35 were trained in 2008, 35 in 2010, 26 in 2011, 21 in 2012, and 40 in 2013. With regards to the information and awareness workshops, 758 women attended them. Moreover, about 5,000 multilingual guides were printed and distributed through the project’s associations network.23

The qualitative monitoring managed by the technical team of Municipality, through anonymous questionnaires administered to the beneficiaries, showed some aspects that have also emerged during our field-visit:

1. There is strong demand for the programme’s continuity. Many interviewed women underline that notwithstanding the empowerment and the multiplying effect their training had provided, it would be important to plan a continuation of the actions. Many of them, indeed, passed on their knowledge to their referring communities, their associations, the districts where they live and operate but do not know how to continue and what to do in order not to waste the training resources acquired. Some interviewed beneficiaries want to be more involved, with a more active role in the project actions and in the editions that follow the one in which they attained their certificate. Some stakeholders pointed out that the Municipality should plan wider rooms for debate and shared evaluation, both with the beneficiaries and with the associations themselves, in order to follow-up on the project together. 2. Many associations involved in the organizations of the workshops highlighted the great utility of the two main actions (empowerment and workshops) and the interest of the involved women in the themes handled. The Municipality, though, should invest more both in supply (more empowerment training hours, more hours for the workshops for facing more themes and making them available for more associations) and in resources for the associations and for the women themselves. Concerning this matter, it may be useful to fund the rent of ad hoc spaces for the women, autonomously managed, in order to offer a more concrete continuation to the project and increase the autonomy of the women, too often excessively relying on the associations. These spaces would be excellent meeting and intercultural points where they could put into practice what they have learnt.

23 Source: Immigration Office, Equality, Cooperation and Citizenship Area, City of Bilbao. Interview to Goizane Mota Gago and to Begoña Cortazar, Bilbao 31 May 2013.

17 3. Beneficiaries’ and stakeholders’ evaluation on the training structure was good. Many women declared that the course has really changed their life, though the number of involved women should increase, according to them. Some beneficiaries also reported it could be convenient to include Basque women in the training courses, since this would increase the interaction between foreigners and Basque and the intercultural character of the actions. On this point, though, there is no homogeneous stance among the interviewed beneficiaries and the debate seems to remain open. However, the contribution the training courses provide to integration was acknowledged by many interviewed beneficiaries: several women confirmed that the course helped them to deconstruct the prejudices they had about the Basque or to be simply more self-confident when asking for information or for being proactive in directly looking for different kinds of information. Also the presence of men could be advantageous, according to some beneficiaries, especially in the empowerment course, even if this would make the participation of all women more problematic. 4. With regards to the methodology used in the workshops, some associations would suggest to the expert team of the Municipality to envisage more dynamic modalities overcoming the frontal lessons. Dramatization or psychotherapy might be introduced, as well as music and artistic production, relying on the great experience of many associations working on these topics for long. 5. Concerning the “multiplying effect”, the Municipality team has not completed the evaluation yet. The interviewed beneficiaries said this part is the most difficult. One of them told us how difficult it had been to convene a group African women and talk to them about gender-based violence. It was possible to involve only some of them, while others remained more passive, maybe afraid of talk about this kind of topic. Therefore, the evaluation reveals some critical points. Furthermore, in this phase of multiplying effect, some beneficiaries felt little supervised and coordinated. 6. The first qualitative evaluation on the pilot action concerning Female Genital Mutilation, led by the Municipality team, showed very high level of satisfaction, also confirmed during our field visit.

18 4. Conclusions

In conclusion it is possible to sum up the main innovative aspects of the FP as well as transferability conditions. Regarding the innovative aspects of the practice, the expert team of the Municipality appraised the aspects that would contribute the most to the practice’s transferability or constituting its pre-conditions:

• The programme starts with the basic and universal needs of all women and, maybe, can thus be found in other contexts. This contributes to the success and the transferability of the programme. • The protagonist role played by the women in dealing with gender-based violence and reproductive health issues. • The focus on the “focal communities” and on the “difficult access” communities represents an important pre-condition for portability because it can be more successful if it is well targeted. • The challenge of including also associations committed in socio-educational and socio-labour fields and which do not specifically target the immigrants.

No very important weak points were investigated although there is strong request for the programme continuity. Many interviewed women underline that it would be important to plan a continuation of the actions, beside the empowerment and the multiplying effect.

The practice, therefore, was evaluated by the different interviewed actors (institutions, beneficiaries and stakeholders) as absolutely transferable, even if the presence of a strong institutional actor at the local level appears to be a binding condition.

The practice follow-up envisages a reinforcement of the training continuation phase, planning some specific actions that could follow the women empowerment and the multiplying effect. The expert team of Municipality turned out to be absolutely aware of this challenge that appears to be necessary not to waste the enormous resources and potential created by the project.

19 Bibliography

City of Bilbao, Local Action Plan for Management of Diversity.

City of Bilbao, Mujer, Salud y Violencia - Presentation of Program 2008-2013, Equality, Cooperation and Citizenship Office.

City of Bilbao, Funciontioning and Organization Rule Book of Bilbao Local Immigration Council.

Kaplan Marcusán A. and López Gay A. (2010), Mapa de la Mutilación Genital Femenina en España 2009, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.

OPENcities, Local Action Plan, City of Bilbao.

Plöger J. 2007, Bilbao City Report, CASE report – Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion.

Rodríguez, A., Martínez, E. and Guenaga, G.(2001) Uneven Redevelopment – New Urban Policies and Socio-Spatial Fragmentation in Metropolitan Bilbao, European Urban and Regional Studies.

20 Annexes

Annex 1 - Interviews

# Date Name Position and Project role

1 31.05.13 Goizane Mota Technical officer Immigration Office – Equality, Gago Cooperation and Citizenship Department, City of Bilbao 2 31.05.13 Begona Cortazar Director of Immigration Office – Equality, Cooperation and 16.09.13 Citizenship Department, City of Bilbao 3 18.09.13 Oihane Agirregotia Political Head of Equality, Cooperation and Citizenship Department 4 18.09.13 Idoia Uriarte Director of Equality, Cooperation and Citizenship Department 5 16.09.13 Itziar Azpeitia Technical officer – Social Action Department, City of Bilbao 6 16.09.13 Ana Fernandez de Director of Módulo Auzolan Garayalde 7 16.09.13 Belen Bilbao Health-care Professional of Módulo Auzolan

8 17.09.13 Izaskun Employed trainer for empowerment courses Zarrandikoetxea 9 16.09.13 Aida Mejia Agent of empowerment (beneficiary)

10 16.09.13 Aziza Abdalahe Agent of empowerment (beneficiary)

11 16.09.13 Hajar Samadi Agent of empowerment (beneficiary)

12 16.09.13 Irene Agent of empowerment (beneficiary)

13 18.09.13 Lidia Kinson Tutor and agent of empowerment

14 17.09.13 Elena Bejar Médicos del Mundo Association

15 17.09.13 Blanca Mena Argindegi Association - Caritas

16 17.09.13 Leire Martin CREA – African Women Association

17 17.09.13 Aitziber Margotu Association

18 18.09.13 Binta Diallo Agent of Empowerment – FGM pilot intervention

19 16.09.13 Gabriela Florea Agent of Empowerment and Trainer

20 17.09.13 Carmen Beneficiary of Margotu Association

21 The Partners

The International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization (ITCILO) is the consortium leader in charge of the implementation of the EU-funded EU-MIA project.

The consortium research partners are: the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) at the University of Oxford and the International and European Forum of Migration Research (FIERI).

If you want more information on the project please visit our website: www.eu-mia.eu or contact:

ITCILO FIERI COMPAS

Miriam Boudraa Irene Ponzo Ida Persson Programme Offi cer on Labour Migration Researcher Research & Communications Offi cer Social Protection Programme COMPAS, University of Oxford Via Ponza, 3 Viale Maestri del Lavoro, 10 10121 Torino - Italy 58 Banbury Road, Oxford, OX2 6QS 10127 Torino (Italy) Tel. +39 011 5160044 Tel: +44 (0) 1865 612358 Tel: + 39 011 693 6359 Email : fi eri@fi eri.it Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] www.fi eri.it www.compas.ox.ac.uk www.itcilo.org

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