16/12/2020
On 8 December, UNHCR celebrated for the first time in Guinea-Bissau the commemoration of the “Official Declaration of Effective Local Integration of Long-Term Refugees”, signed by the country’s government on 5 December 2017.
This declaration allowed the refugees present in Guinea-Bissau to start a naturalization process that has materialized in recent years with the delivery of Guinean identity documents and participation in local integration projects.
This is a very important event for refugees and for Guinea-Bissau, as the only country on the African continent to take such an important step in the area of human rights and, in particular, the right to citizenship, which is the result of the effort and work of various institutions.
The Mani Tese team, which has been working in the Cacheu region alongside more than 35 communities since 2017, has also received recognition for the effort made in recent years to improve the living conditions of naturalized refugees.
All the staff then took the stage. For four years, many of them have been working day after day to allow the achievement of this historic milestone for naturalized refugees and for Guinea-Bissau and contribute to the realization of this integration project.
“All success is the result of team work” reads the motivation of the Mani Tese award “The most distant goal is reached by those who have a wise hope. To find the way, it doesn’t matter so much where you have been, but where you want to go. Thank you for your dedication and contribution to the naturalization process“.
“For Mani Tese – declares Sara Gianesini, project leader – receiving this award is truly a source of great satisfaction, because it represents the recognition of the great commitment of our NGO and the results it has produced”.
To find out more about Mani Tese’s activities with refugees in Guinea-Bissau, on our website you will find the page dedicated to the “Integration of asylum seekers and Senegalese refugees” project promoted by Mani Tese and co-financed by UNHCR.
Here are some pictures of the event and the award ceremony:
