The Regional Director for Communities, Graça Castanho, will preside over the meeting of the Regional Advisory Council for Immigration Affairs to be held at the “Sala Serreta” at the Vip Executive Hotel in Ponta Delgada on December 2.
This Council, established in the context of the Presidency of the Government, through the Cabinet of the Secretary of the Presidency and the Regional Directorate for Communities, aims to ensure the participation and collaboration of associations representing immigrants, social partners, social solidarity institutions as well as other entities providing social and cultural support to immigrants in the definition and coordination of social integration policies to combat exclusion.
Moreover, this Council integrates, among others, several regional directorates and institutes as well as the Immigrant Association of the Azores, The Community Centre to Support Immigrants, the Association of Municipalities of the Azores, the Foreign and Boarders Service, and the High Commission for Immigration and Intercultural Dialogue.
Various topics will be under discussion at this meeting, with special emphasis in the actions taken the Azorean Government during 2010, the new National Plan to integrate Immigrants for the triennium 2010-2013 and the Metropolis Conference to take place in the Azores in 2011. In addition, the fundamental areas of action for 2011 to promote the social integration of immigrants as well as the preservation of their cultural identity in the Azores will be also defined during this meeting.
The Regional Advisory Council for Immigration Affairs was established in 2002 with the purpose of assessing the law projects concerning the immigrants’ rights submitted by the Regional Government;  cooperating in the implementation of social integration policies intended to eliminate discrimination and promote equality; participating in the definition of measures and actions to improve the immigrants’ living conditions and monitoring their implementation in order to improve the coordination of actions among the involved partners and entities;  participating in the defence of immigrants’ rights concerning their identity and culture and their respective promotion.