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Catalonia supports Lebanon's efforts to tackle refugee crisis

May 15, 2017 01:49 PM | ACN

Catalan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Raül Romeva, traveled to Lebanon to assess the Catalan cooperation projects which are being carried out there. Indeed, the Government is involved with 17 projects in the country in cooperation with several NGOs, the UN, and the Lebanese authorities. “We want to collaborate in building the necessary response to tackle the crisis in the Mediterranean,” said Romeva and added that “society is demanding” that Catalonia reaffirm its commitment with the refugees. Romeva made these statements after visiting the refugee camp and medical center in Halba, a village located in the Akkar area, next to the Syrian border, where 35% of the population are refugees.

More than 200 associations come together to promote Catalonia as 'home' for refugees

November 29, 2016 07:03 PM | ACN

“Catalonia has always been a welcoming land”. This is the leitmotiv of the campaign launched today by 200 Catalan associations and NGOs and a hundred cultural companies and citizens. The initiative ‘Our home, your home’ seeks to promote the reception of refugees in Catalonia through a wide range of activities aimed at raising awareness among society. The movement arose from a group of Catalan volunteers who worked in the informal refugee camps in northern Greece, until the refugees were evicted and moved to premises under military control. “We felt ashamed of being accomplices to the policies of our Government and we promised we would do something to change their [the refugees] situation”, explained Ruben Wagensberg. Although Spain has to receive 10,500 refugees according to the scheme of distribution of the European Commission, it has only welcomed 516 to the date. The main goal of the initiative is to ensure that Catalan institutions act, ignoring the inaction from Spain, and start welcoming refugees. 

3,000 organisations to send Rajoy a letter asking him not to block "the legal" self-determination vote

July 18, 2014 08:44 PM | ACN

Catalonia's National Alliance for Self-determination, which brings together some 3,000 entities including political parties, local governments, trade unions, employer associations, Chambers of commerce and NGOs, held on Friday its 3rd meeting. The Alliance decided to send the Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, a letter to ask him not to block the self-determination vote scheduled for the 9th of November, which would be organised under the Catalan legal framework. The document will highlight that the Constitutional Court stated that it did not have powers to solve issues arising from a part of Spain wanting to modify its political status and that "public powers, particularly the territorial ones" are those who have to solve it "through dialogue and cooperation". The letter will be sent in the coming days, ahead of the meeting between Rajoy and the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas. In this meeting, Mas will discuss this vote but also the institutional and social issues in Catalonia.

Catalan Public Diplomacy Council promotes the projection of civil society organisations abroad

February 27, 2014 08:34 PM | ACN

The Public Diplomacy Council of Catalonia (Diplocat) has launched its first call for applications for ‘Grants for the International Projection of Catalan Civil Society Organisations’, designed to cover the participation costs of such organisations in international meetings. The grants will be managed by the Federation of Internationally Recognized Catalan Organisations (FOCIR) and applications can be submitted until the 27th of March. The Secretary General of Diplocat, Albert Royo, detailed the call on Wednesday evening. He stressed that activities aimed towards international public opinion could have a significant impact on presenting Catalonia to the world.