Action: Promoting Rights
This page documents the work that each diaspora association partnering in part two of this project (2026-2027) is doing to promote and realize rights in their communities.
Altrico Algeria Trinacria Association for Cooperation
The Algerian association in Palermo supports cooperation between Italy and Algeria, including international trade and educational partnerships. The association also hosts cultural activities and events for the Algerian diaspora. Altrico supports the hundreds of Algerian international students who study at the University of Palermo and helped found an independent Algerian students’ association in 2026.
In phase two of the project, the Association will host a festival for Algerian independence day, promoting the rights to cultural freedom, dignity, freedom of thought, and more. In partnership with the Algerian embassy in Rome, the three-day event in Palermo (Oct. 30-Nov. 1) will feature a screening the Battle of Algiers film, talks by authors from Algeria, and a fashion show with traditional Algerian clothing. People of all backgrounds in Palermo are invited to enjoy and learn about the food, culture, and history of Algeria.
The Bangla School in Palermo, located in the Noce neighborhood where many families from Bangladesh reside, is a cultural and educational institution. Students attend times per week, after school and on weekends, to learn the language and curriculum of the Bangladeshi education system in elementary and middle school. It helps young Bangladeshis born or raised in Italy understand the country’s language, culture, and history.
In part two of this project, the Bangla School will offer its programs for free, expanding its promotion of rights to cultural freedom, freedom of thought, dignified work, a future, and more. The school will be more accessible for the many families that struggle to pay the tuition fee, while also ensuring that the women teaching at the school are compensated for their work. This will also expand access to the school’s summer camp and other programs for Bangladeshi, Italian, and other youth.
As the first anti-trafficking association in Italy founded and run by women who experienced trafficking themselves, Women of Benin City combats exploitation and supports women who have freed themselves and their children in rebuilding their lives and livelihoods in Palermo.
In phase two of the project, Women of Benin City will organize meetings and events that promote the rights to dignity, cultural freedom, and freedom from torture and exploitation. They will re-start their popular classes teaching women to cook Italian food so they can provide for their families more affordably, gathering women to inform them about their rights, and empowering them to plan for their futures.
Led by young people from Palermo’s Tamil community, Let’s Give a Hand supports people from all communities with access to legal documents, health care, food, social services, and other assistance.
Check back on this website soon to read about the activities of Let’s Give a Hand in phase two of our project.
UNIS, the Ivorian association of Palermo, unites the diverse ethnic groups from Côte d’Ivoire in the city for a variety of social and cultural activities, including festivals, support for families and individuals, as well as transnational community and economic development in West Africa.
UNIS has produced and performed plays and dance performances showcasing the many ethnic groups of Côte d’Ivoire. For example, they put on a play that highlights the experiences of community members who provide home-based care, and a play called “Santa Claus Has No Color.” In phase two of this project, they will write and produce a play dramatizing the importance of a right to birthright citizenship for young people born in Italy. This play will involve a variety of migrant and diaspora communities.
Our lead partner in this project, Diasporas for Peace (DPP), supports individuals and other community associations in Palermo, mostly from its migrant and diaspora communities but also Italians. In addition to coordinating the research in phase 1, DPP’s work in this project has included assistance for people acquiring and renewing legal documents and to associations in Palermo that support inclusion of newcomers and the welfare of children and families - activities promoting people’s rights to documentation, mobility, work, shelter, cultural freedom, dignity, childhood and a future, and more.
In part two of this project, DPP is creating and managing a Facebook page and TikTok channel dedicated to supporting migrants’ access to services and rights in Palermo. DPP staff and young people involved in the organization are collecting and vetting information directly from public sector offices, about how to apply for and renew residence permits, medical cards, social security, school registration, birth certificates and other vital statistics, to help migrants avoid errors and confusion in accessing the legal documentation necessary to realize human rights. People involved in DPP are producing simple and up-to-date posts, brief videos, and infographics in multiple languages, based on consultation with attorneys, public sector bureaucrats, and other experts to explain these often-complex bureaucratic processes and respond to frequently asked questions. In this way, the project is creating a digital point of reference to orient and support migrants in navigating public sector services in the city.