A three-day meeting of experts in Rome next week bringing together
countries that have museums on the history of migration or plan to
have them has been organized by the UN’s Education,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Italian National
Commission for UNESCO and IOM as part of a joint effort to
encourage the exchange of information and experiences on the
history of migration and on migrants’ memories.

The aim of the two organizations is to help destination
countries build and develop museums on migration giving due
recognition to migrant contribution to the development of
destination countries at a time when migration flows across
international borders and migrant integration are major issues on
social and political agendas. Migration museums can help shape the
feeling of a common past and destiny that constitutes the basis of
social cohesion.

The meeting, on the 23-25 October, will gather experts and
representatives from Australia, Brazil, Denmark, France, Germany,
Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland and the UK.

With the backing of the Italian National Commission for UNESCO,
the meeting will set up a network of specialists from countries
with existing museums on migration and from countries that are
exploring the idea of opening similar museums. Participants will
include major immigrant community representatives as well as
education specialists as schools play an important role in
integration issues.

For more information on this project, please go to "paragraph-link-no-underline" href=
"http://www.unesco.org/migration" target="_blank" title=
"">www.unesco.org/migration  or contact:

Natale Losi

Head, Psychosocial and Cultural Integration Unit

IOM Rome

Tel.: + 39 06 87 45 00 22

E-mail: "mailto:nlosi@iom.int">nlosi@iom.int 

Paul de Guchteneire

Chief of International Migrations and Multicultural Policies
Section

UNESCO

Tel.: + 33 1 45 68 38 50

E-mail:   "mailto:p.deguchteneire@unesco.org">p.deguchteneire@unesco.org