Migrant Families Toolbox

The City of Gothenburg developed a toolbox to support frontline workers in communicating with migrant parents. The aim of the toolbox is to develop and strengthen preventive and promotive approaches to work against violence in a family context, including honour-based violence. This is carried out by enabling trust building dialogues between migrant parents and front-line workers. One central objective of this toolbox is also to provide knowledge to parents about their rights to receive support from frontline welfare services, especially their rights to parental support.

The toolbox contains 7 modules. The toolbox is supported by awareness raising material for frontline workers and migrant parents. The awareness raising material includes a set of images that can be used when communicating with parents.

For more information about this toolbox, read our latest project update!

Each toolbox developed in the project has been carefully put together by our team and reviewed by a diverse panel of thematic experts at the end of 2020. The experts brought a wide variety of expertise and insights on the comprehensiveness, duplicability and practical use of the tools in other EU contexts. The experts involved in the project include field specialists, activists, academics, and specialized city services. Want to know more about our team and the experts of the Migrant Families toolbox? Click on the drop down list below! 

Meet the Team

Somita Sabeti

Somita Sabeti, the Coordinator of the City of Gothenburg for the Equalcity project.

Contact Somita for questions, requests and additional info.

Learn more about Somita

Meet the Experts

Kathianna Tamara Oppenhuizen

Kathianna is the assistant project manager at the Belgian Institute for the equality of women and men. The Institute is the official coordinating body for the implementation and monitoring of the Istanbul Convention and the National Action Plan against gender-based violence.

Kathianna's expertise lies in coordinating and supporting projects that have ending gender-based violence at their core.

Why does Kathianna participate in this expert panel?

"Since its foundation in December 2002, the Institute for the equality of women and men, the federal public instance which guarantees and promotes the equality of women and men and fights against any form of discrimination and inequality based on gender, has been working on the issue of gender-based violence (intimate partner violence, sexual violence, public harassment, sexual harassment, female genital mutilation, forced marriage, honour-based violence and sexual violence). Since then, the Institute makes sure to collect qualitative and quantitative information related to gender-based violence, to analyse it scientifically and by elaborating research/surveys and recommendations. In this context, the Institute promotes communication between and participatory/permanent consultation with people working in the field, the NGO’s the concerned departments and the scientific and political worlds. In addition, the Institute supports the policy on the matter by the observation, detection, collection, monitoring, control and evaluation of the situation, the evolution, the strategic developments and the problems and areas for improvement and the impact of the policy (among others through the development of opinions and recommendations). It is in this light and specifically from our expertise on honor related violence and our projects on gender based violence and migration, that we want to participate in the expert panel."

Contact Kathianna through e-mail.

Follow the work of Kathianna through LinkedIn.

Guglielmo Schininà

Guglielmo is the Head of Mental Health, Psychosocial Response and Intercultural Communication at the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Guglielmo is an expert in mental health and psychosocial support in emergency as well as in cultural integration. In more than 25 years of experiences around the world, the focus of his work has lied on community-based approaches to working with conflict-affected and vulnerable migrant populations such as survivors of human trafficking and SGBV.

Why does Guglielmo participate in this expert panel?

"I am passionate about programs that promote the rights, protection and wellbeing of migrants, and about gender equality. Effective support services require an interdisciplinary and integrated approach. As such, I am happy to be part of a panel that brings together experts from different fields whose expertise and best practice can be of inspiration for IOM psychosocial support programs in Europe and worldwide. As a panelist, I am to advocate for the mainstreaming and the cross-cutting consideration of psychosocial and cultural wellbeing in the design and implementation of Equalcity."

Contact Guglielmo through e-mail.

Interested in the work of IOM MHPSS? Visit the webpage here!

Rasoul Nejadmehr

Rasoul works for the Region West Götaland in Sweden on the topic of sustainable regional development. Rasoul focuses more specifically on expanding participation and increasing empowerment and participation in public life for all inhabitants of the region. This also includes strengthening democracy, social trust and the quality of life for all inhabitants of a democratic society. Rasoul also leads The Research Centre for Intercultural Dialogue, which is a collaboration between Region Västra Götaland and three universities (University of Gothenburg, University of Boras and University West).

The expertise of Rasoul lies in intercultural dialogue, widening participation and intersectional empowerment. As an independent researcher, he focuses on cultural and educational foundations and policies as well as intercultural dialogue and intercultural integration. The main task of the Research Centre he leads is to provide knowledge and competences concerning how to properly address challenges of cultural diversity and inclusion of newcomers via innovative and knowledge-based policy approaches, intercultural competencies, and intercultural dialogue. The aim has been to improve the quality of public services and also increase migrants’ and refugees’ participation in and access to such services.

Why does Rasoul participate in this expert panel?

"Since my arrival in Sweden in 1990, I have been engaged in effort to increase the participation of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees in the design and implementation of policies that concern their daily life. I am pleased to participate in IOM's expert panel and will try to contribute to its success with my knowledge, experiences and expertise."

Interested in the work of the Region West Götaland, visit the website here. To read more about the research of the Centre for Intercultural Dialogue, click here.

Interested in reading Rasoul's recent publication? Find out more about the book here.

Katarina Idegård

Katarina is the development leader and coordinator at Dialoga, which is a knowledge-center on domestic violence and honor-based violence in the City of Gothenburg

Katarina's daily work at Dialoga emphasizes her expertise in honor-based violence.

Why does Katarina participate in this expert panel?

"Honor-based violence is an issue about human rights, and especially children’s rights. There´s also a need for developing the preventive work against honor-based violence in Gothenburg. Therefore I find it important to participate in the expert panel and to share my knowledge and experiences in this area."

Contact Katarina through e-mail.

Interested in the work of Dialoga? Follow them through Facebook.

Fatumo Osman

Fatumo is a researcher at Uppsala University and lecturer and associate professor at Dalarna University.

Fatumo obtained her PhD in Medical Science at Karolinska Institutet 2017 with a dissertation of evaluating culturally tailored parenting support program for Somali-born parents living in Sweden. Current research projects involve long-term follow-up of a parenting support program on Somali-born parents and their children’s mental health, and school interventions to promote the mental health of refugee and migrant children.

Why does Fatumo participate in this expert panel?

"My research expertise is on how parenting programs can be available and accessible for migrant families. This project addresses important issues on how we can reduce health inequalities, which is the driving forces of all my projects and the reason to join the expert panel. Being in the expert panel will also give me the opportunity to gain and share new knowledge."

Interested in the work of Fatumo on this topic? Follow her through LinkedIn and Twitter.

Leon Rokx

Leon is the General Manager of the RED safehouse II, RED center against honor-related conflicts. The RED Center against honor-related conflicts is the institution in Denmark – partly Private and partly a NGO funded by the Danish State, taking care of youngsters in honor-based violence, by running two high security safehouses, and counseling for youngsters, parents and professionals.

Leon's field of expertise is honor-based violence and negative social control.

Why does Leon participate in this expert panel?

"We do training of and assist professionals within this field. Part of our aim and goals are to develop new intervention strategies within this area of social work Both locally, national and also international context. Participating in this panel gives us the possibility to contribute with our experience and knowledge in this area of social work, and further more gives us the opportunity to learn from others and get inspiration for the future work."

Read more about the RED center here.

Emmelie Rönnblad

Emmelie has worked for many years as a teacher in a socioeconomic vulnerable area in the city of Gothenburg. She is now a coordinator in the human rights team at the Primary school administration of Gothenburg. Her special focus there is on violence prevention, honor-based violence and school projects which aims against racism, extremism and antisemitism.

Since 2015 she is the local coordinator in Gothenburg of the national project Building Bridges, a promotive and preventive effort which aims at strengthening professionals' intercultural skills in the meeting with parents and caregivers by providing tools and support for a process-oriented value-based dialogue. The aim is to strengthen children's rights, promote integration and prevent honor-related violence and oppression. Building Bridges is developed by Eva Ohlsson and is run by the organization Acting4change at national level. In Gothenburg, the work is anchored in the city's Preschool administration who has the overall coordination and funding.

Read more about the interesting project Building Bridges here.

Soleyman Ghasemiani

Soleyman is a sociologist and works a Development Manager at Dialoga, which is the City of Gothenburg's Centre of Competence on violence in close relationships and honor-related violence. He is responsible for training and development on honor-related violence of the City of Gothenburg’s employees and seven contract municipalities around Gothenburg.

Soleyman is also an author and has written a lot about honor issues in Swedish and in Kurdish. In 2006, he received an award from the "Fadime’s Memorial Fund" in Sweden, for his efforts against honor violence.

Interested in the work of Dialoga? Follow them through Facebook.

Thomas Jordan

Thomas is an Associate Professor and Senior Lecturer in Work Science, Department of Sociology and Work Science, Gothenburg university, Sweden.

Thomas conducts empirical research and other studies on dialogue facilitation in relation to intercultural dialogue, prevention of honor-based violence and parent support programs. The competences of Thomas therefore clearly situate in best practices for dialogue facilitation in the field of integration of immigrants.

Contact Thomas through e-mail.

Resource Team "Honor" of the City of Malmö

This team provides support and guidance to youths living in an honor-related context as well as professionals. They offer workshops and lectures for professionals in our municipality regarding honor-based violence. Their model has inspired the City of Gothenburg to develop their own Resource Team Honor. They have also been referees when regional resource centre against honor-based violence have been developed. They regularly exchange experience with various organizations and cooperate with multiple local groups, authorities and NGO’s.

The team is specialized in honor-based violence and oppression.

Why does the Resource Team participate in this expert panel?

"Our team has developed a unique strategy to reach out to our citizens in need of support. We are the first mobile team in Sweden. We want to make it easier for our target group to get the help and support which they need. The risk of being seen by family or others, going to the social services, is a fact and can lead to severe consequences for victims of honor related violence. Therefore, our team of mobile so we can conduct the meeting in places that are safe for them, for example in school or in other safe places they are at. This approach facilitates getting the needed support. In Malmö, we see the need of working with parents in order to prevent young people needing our services in the future. We are happy to participate in this project. The toolboxes and the possibility to participate in the expert panel gives us a great opportunity to learn more in this field and to share our experiences of working with HRV."

Interested in the work of the Resource Team? Visit the webpage here!

This project is funded by the European Union