Purpose: Geneva offers a fascinating combination of challenges and opportunities in terms of diversity and interculturalism. If we take into account the particular demographics of the city (60.8% Swiss and 39.2% foreigners), we can understand the number of challenges faced by the city authorities. This is why Geneva can serve as an example for other cities in the Intercultural Cities network. In 2011, following a visit by experts from the Council of Europe's Intercultural Cities programme, a report was produced. It describes the intercultural profile of the City of Geneva and concludes with eight recommendations for Geneva's municipal authorities. The present assessment takes these recommendations into account. The evaluation of the City of Geneva's diversity policy for the period 2016-2020, which has just been published, is a follow-up to a roadmap drawn up in 2016, which adopted a specific and non-stigmatising approach to diversity, based on the principle of social inclusion.
Stimulus: This self-assessment is an example of a strong political commitment on the part of the leaders of the City of Geneva, not only because it reports on what is being done or not being done, but also because it is accompanied by an explicit political declaration by the Mayor of the City of Geneva in 2019, Mrs Sandrine Salerno, which underlines the main objective of the diversity management policy: “For the well-being of all its inhabitants and to make Geneva a truly welcoming, accessible, non-discriminatory and responsible city”.
Process: The evaluation of the 2016-2020 roadmap presents the main actions carried out in relation to the following 4 strategic axes:
- Welcoming residents
- Accessibility of public services
- Fight against all forms of discrimination
- Implementation of a human resources policy that reflects the diversity of Geneva.
Within the framework of the first axis, several actions have been developed and implemented to achieve five objectives related to social integration and, in particular, the welcoming of residents:
- The redefinition of the concept of the welcome ceremony for new residents and candidates for naturalisation (more specifically: the participation of the Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) and the Cantonal Employment Office (OCE) in the ceremony; the implementation of the awareness project "Geneva, its face"; the creation of an interdepartmental welcome network to coordinate activities, exchange information and carry out concerted reflection; the name of the ceremony to welcome candidates for naturalisation was changed to "Welcome ceremony for new naturalised citizens").
- Acquiring a good knowledge of the migratory dynamics, specificities and needs of the different target groups and strengthening and systematising the reception of new residents (in concrete terms: creation of an inter-municipal platform coordinated by the Office for the Integration of Foreigners; implementation of a coordinated reception system allowing better information on municipal services).
The 2nd axis concerns public services, more specifically the accessibility of the City of Geneva's public services, and comprises 5 objectives, 4 of which have been achieved:
- The adaptation and translation of several communication media into six languages.
- Training of mediators for non-French-speaking groups.
- Implementation of a procedure for identifying groups with specific needs.
- Adoption of municipal regulations to make the accessibility measures permanent.
The measures that helped to achieve these objectives were as follows: raising municipal departments’ awareness of the need for accessible and intercultural language, as well as the needs of non-French-speaking groups; translation of 60 documents containing basic information about municipal services; setting up of a methodology for interaction between public services and users with a view to finding a common approach to mapping needs and prioritising measures designed to promote equal opportunities regarding public services; establishment of an interdepartmental committee to draw up a universal accessibility policy.
The third strand is very important as it sets out six objectives to combat all forms of discrimination. The evaluation highlights the achievement of all the objectives in this area, in particular:
- To raise awareness of non-discrimination among the population and to strengthen and clarify the commitment of the City of Geneva in the fight against racism. The concrete actions undertaken are: the creation of more than 2000 portraits as part of the "Geneva, its face" project; the organisation of several exhibitions in 2015, 2016 and 2017; the organisation of the "Week against Racism", which contributes to a public discourse against racial discrimination by means of information and awareness-raising tools through workshops, conferences, round tables, meetings, exhibitions, screenings, etc.
- Financial and logistical support for associations and other civil society bodies involved in anti-discrimination activities and the organisation of ad hoc awareness-raising events in partnership with these associations or bodies (each year, the City provides around 30 ad hoc grants, 10 named grants and various free services).
- Hosting the study visit on interculturalism and intersectionality organised within the framework of the Council of Europe's Intercultural Cities Programme, in order to continue and strengthen the participation of the City of Geneva in this network, with a view to exchanging good practices in the fight against discrimination and promoting at European level the actions carried out by the City of Geneva in this perspective (in 2018, the seminar "Human rights at local level: Preventing Discrimination through an Intersectional Perspective" was organised, bringing together representatives of cities participating in the Intercultural Cities Programme and local associations).
- Raising the awareness of public and private institutions in order to overcome stereotypes in the labour market, in education, in housing or in public spaces, as well as public, political and symbolic recognition of the contribution of migration to the development of Geneva. These objectives were achieved through the organisation of a conference entitled "Histories and traces of discrimination: from seasonal workers to refugees (1931-2017)" and a month-long exhibition entitled "We, seasonal workers.... Geneva 1931-2019", which combines historical, commemorative and artistic approaches. Numerous events (conferences, film screenings, debates, exchanges of migration experiences) were organised in partnership with the associative sector and welcomed nearly 6,400 visitors.
The fourth axis focuses on the training of municipal and cooperative staff. The main objective is To implement a human resources policy that reflects the diversity of Geneva. The concrete actions that have made it possible to achieve this objective are linked to the implementation of three training courses and the development of monitoring indicators: a workshop focused on finding solutions, aimed at staff in contact with users; a training course for managers and supervisors, dealing with issues within teams and in support situations in the field; the training course "Migration, cultural diversity and the public service", which will take place at the end of 2019 and be repeated in 2020. Several services are also preparing tailor-made training courses; the development of monitoring indicators and their integration in the Human Resources Social Report, starting with the 2017 edition.
Impact: The evaluation of the roadmap 2016-2020 presents the main actions carried out in relation to the axes and objectives set at the beginning. In addition, this report shows that the actions linked to the implementation of the objectives of a Roadmap have produced results in relation to diversity that were not among the objectives at the outset, in particular in important areas such as integration, public services and equality in diverse societies:
- Specific training for municipal police officers (especially on issues related to the situation of Roma).
- Measures developed to play sports and cultural services accessible to migrants, particularly asylum seekers.
- French lessons in parks.
- Awareness-raising on political rights for foreigners who are eligible to vote at local level.
- Local and community actions in neighbourhoods (social exchanges, solidarity groups).
The self-evaluation of the objectives and actions undertaken by the City of Geneva concludes that the implementation of the Municipal Policy on Diversity for the period 2016-2020 has helped to convey a strong political message that conveys a positive image of diversity and that all residents, regardless of their origin, religion, nationality or length of residence, are an integral part of Geneva. In the words of Ms Salerno: “Today, at the time of a first assessment, we can be proud of the work that has already been done. A lot has been done in five years. Good projects have been developed in the fields of culture, sport, early childhood, social action, housing, security and human resources. Most of the objectives set out in the roadmap have been achieved, a solid diversity network has been set up and important reflections have been carried out”. As for the future, the commitment is clear and encouraging: “... there is still much to be done to create a positive image of diversity and to free it from certain stereotypes. In the coming years, it will therefore be necessary to continue the important work that has been started and to redouble our efforts”.
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