The International Migrants Day was last Saturday 18 December and MedCities celebrated by promoting intercultural and sport activities in Tangier in the frame of the project TangerAccueil. This project is implemented by MedCities and Tangier City Council in collaboration with local civil society organisations. It is funded by the European Union, the Swiss Development Cooperation Agency and framed by the MC2CM program of the International Center for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD). 

On Friday 17 December a friendly match was organised in Tanger with players from different nationalities, all mobilised by local entities and partners of the project. Tanger city council international services innaugurated the match at a popular sports’ center in the city. This activity was driven by the initiative of the civil society organisations partnering in the project as an activity to foster social cohesion and intercultrual udnerstading in the city. This activity marked the beginning of the public presentation of TangerAccueil’s results. Over 30 players from different nationalities took part of the game. 

On Saturday 18 the closing ceremony of TangerAccueil gathered over 40 participants, including city council members, local civil society organisations and migrants. The city council of Tangier welcomed the results of the project and tahnked the entities having partnered in the initiative for their active and impactful work. The Organisation des Jeunes Africains, the CMMA, Tadamum and Armid, all local entities well enrooted in Tangier, hosted the event by presenting the main results and realisations over the last two months. A group of beneficiaries took the floor to share their experience and views on the present and future of the city’s hosting policies.  

TangerAccueil supports the role of the municipality of Tangier in improving access to basic services for the migrant population residing in the city as well as the coordination of the local civil society active in oferring hosting and welfare services. It has led to the creation of a mobile information service for the migrant population and has promoted training and capacity vuilding courses on basic skills for migrants. The project finally aims to constitute the local city council migration council to structure and consolidate the local dialogue on this field.