ICMC Europe/Share Network and over 50 civil society organisations are co-signing a joint statement calling on the European Commission to prepare a proposal for a Council Implementation Decision on the extension of the TPD until March 2025 as a matter of urgency.

Many countries across the world have introduced community-led refugee sponsorship schemes, and together have supported newcomers to rebuild their lives and feel welcomed. To deliver this support actors have developed useful resources and learnt a lot of lessons.

A leading example of regional engagement is the Auzolana (Basque for ‘Welcome’) pilot community sponsorship initiative that was launched in March 2019 to welcome five Syrian families in Basque municipalities: Bilbao, Arrigorriaga, Portugalete, Andoain and Vitoria-Gasteiz. The initiative is the first community sponsorship programme, organized and led by a regional government.

On the 6th of October ICMC Europe and the Share Network hosted the second of a series of meetings of its Refugee Sponsorship Mobilisation Platform. As the name indicates, this inclusive platform brings together a wide variety of stakeholders including civil society organisations, faith communities, volunteers, cities and regions, migrant-led organisations, universities, private actors and refugees - to exchange practices and develop strategies and advocacy initiatives to improve and expand community sponsorships under resettlement and complementary pathways in Europe.

On 26-27 September, ICMC and the Canadian Embassy to the Holy See co-organized the hybrid workshop “Building the Future through Community Sponsorship of Refugees: comparing experiences and learning from each other”.