The Eurodiaconia Migration Network Joint Meeting, held in Athens, Greece, from 10 to 11 October 2024, brought together experts from across Europe to discuss the challenges and opportunities to improve access to refugee and migrant assistance in Europe in upcoming period. This event was organized by Eurodiaconia, a European network of churches and Christian organizations dedicated to social justice together with their partner organization Apostoli from Athens.

The network meeting was devoted to the topic of the role of social service providers in shaping migration narratives for inclusive societies. The topics discussed were:

• the role of non-profit service providers and diaconal organizations in shaping the migration narrative,
• challenges and opportunities for effective community building and inclusion,
• advocacy campaigns that bring communities together and create an inclusive and welcoming society.

As such, the event represented an important opportunity for the exchange of experiences and insights into many aspects of improving the position of refugees and asylum seekers at the wider European level, especially in light of the recent adoption of the EU Pact on Asylum and Migration and the upcoming measures to implement this pact.

On the first day, a special focus was on the exchange of good experiences from practice by the football club Real Racing from Santander/ Nueva Vida from Spain (Social inclusion of refugee women through sports), the Evangelical Lutheran Diaconia in Slovakia and Proyecto Contigo/ Diaconia of Spain. During the visit to the Children's Creative Center "Lela Karagianni" in Athens, the participants got an insight into how social enterprises can provide support to the most vulnerable groups from migratory flows and contextually specific ways of their reintegration into society.

On the second day, good experiences from practice in advocacy campaigns were presented, i.e. good examples of spreading narratives that successfully influenced the change of public social perception of migrants: From Life to Life (Diakonie ČCE from the Czech Republic), and Mision (im)possible (by Nueva Vida from Spain).

Both working days were devoted to various aspects of the recently adopted EU Pact on Asylum and Migration and upcoming measures to implement this pact in Europe. The participants considered the challenges that this pact brings and proposed solutions for better social integration of vulnerable groups, as well as for the fight against poverty, stigmatization of target groups and improvement of their legal status. The proposed policies will be further considered at the national and European level, in the form of special initiatives and recommendations that the Eurodiaconies will submit to the competent bodies and authorities of the EU.

The representative of the Ecumenical Humanitarian Organization at this meeting was EHO Technical Assistant, Teofil Lehotski.