Novy Domov

Your New Home in the Czech Republic
2024-2026

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Your New Home in the Czech Republic 2018–2021: What Have We Accomplished?

We provided support to holders of international protection between 2018 and 2021 under the New Home in the Czech Republic project implemented by Slovo 21 and funded by the Czech Ministry of the Interior through the Asylum and Migration Fund (AMIF). During these three years, we laid the foundations of everything we are building on today. We produced a wonderfully clear and reader-friendly brochure and organized 14 integration-oriented seminars. The seminars took place during the COVID pandemic, which made things very complicated for us and taught us how to work online. So, what benefits did the first stage of the project deliver? 

First things first, as preparation we created a brochure with information in 8 different language versions and developed methodology for the seminars. This preparatory phase ran in close cooperation with the Department of Asylum and Migration Policy and the Administration of Refugee Facilities, both under the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic, with whom Slovo 21 consulted everything. Then it was time to train our instructors and interpreters. We trained a total of 30 instructors and 28 interpreters to get them ready for the seminars. 

Towards the end of 2019 we could finally begin to organize seminars. Unfortunately, with the onset of the COVID pandemic in early 2020 the situation changed, and we had to adapt quickly. It was not easy because we had to learn to use our know-how in the online environment. Today we can say that we succeeded, and our work was simplified in many ways. Physical attendance and travelling were not required, and it was easier to organize seminars for participants from different regions. This also made the seminars more accessible to parents of young children, for whom it would otherwise be complicated to attend. We organized 14 seminars, attended by a total of 119 people. Four seminars were attended by the participants in-person and ten were held online; the seminars were interpreted into Arabic, Russian, English and Chinese. 

How did the participants themselves react to our seminars? The feedback we received shows that the earlier they attended the seminar after receiving international protection, the more beneficial it was for them. Nevertheless, we know that even those participants who lived in the Czech Republic for a longer period consider the seminar useful, because it helped them better understand and review information they may have already known or fill the gaps in their knowledge. This helped them to avoid various problematic situations, for example, they were able to comply with various deadlines in filing their paperwork. Besides, it was also easier for them to deal with practical side of living in the Czech Republic, such as enrolling children in school, paying road tolls, etc. 

In 2024, we are revisiting the project of supporting individuals who received international protection in the Czech Republic with a new project that will run until 2026. This time our goal is to support 300 people at an estimated 34 meetings. We are currently developing materials and the launch of the integration-oriented seminars is scheduled for September 2024. This project is co-financed by the European Union.