The High Commissariat for Migration Portugal published the evaluation report for the Municipal Mediator Project (MMP)

In January 2015, ACM – the High Commissariat for Migration in Portugal published an evaluation report under the title “Roma Municipal Mediator Project – Experimental Project Evaluation Results”.

The Municipal Mediator Project (MMP) was launched in 2009 in 15 municipalities with the purpose of “placing Municipal Mediators in municipal council departments or initiatives promoted thereby, as part of an on-the-job training programme”, with the principal

objective of “improving the access of Roma communities to local services and amenities but also facilitating communication between culturally-differentiated groups, reflecting the content of their interaction and preventing and managing conflicts.”

The cooperation with this agency of the Portuguese state has been close, as ACM (formerly ACIDI) was the National Focal Point for the ROMED Programme in Portugal until December 2015.

2 groups of mediators were trained through complementary training courses of ROMED1 and ACIDI/CESIS designed curriculum. According to the report “the two types of training promoted (ACIDI/CESIS and ROMED) add value because of their complementarity in content and methods for addressing mediation processes, the code of ethics being a particularly important instrument in the mediators’ professional performance.”

The report gives useful insights on the recruitement, profiles, skills and training of municipal mediators in the selected municipalities in Portugal, but also good practices and pitfalls in mediation projects.

For the full report, please visit our Resources section.

(Photo: Luis Romao - school mediator in Elvas and facilitator within the Community Action Group in the same municipality)