Signing of the "Pakt vum Zesummeliewen" in the municipalities of Niederanven and Steinsel

The "Pakt vum Zesummeliewen" was signed in Niederanven on 2 October during a welcome event for new citizens. Raymont Weydert, Mayor of Niederanven, and Margaretha Inghelram-Maeyens, Chairwoman of the Municipal advisory committee on integration, emphasised the importance of welcoming newcomers and the commitment of their municipality to integration and living together. Indeed, within the framework of the "Pakt vum Zesummeliewen", the municipality will continue its efforts to encourage all citizens to live together.

On the occasion of the signing of the "Pakt vum Zesummeliewen" in Steinsel on 7 November 2022, Mayor Fernand Marchetti stated that every resident has a right to harmonious cohabitation. Everyone's opinion counts and the philosophy of the pact, as a participatory project, fits in perfectly with the integration activities already initiated and carried out in recent years.

The Minister for Family Affairs and Integration, Corinne Cahen, congratulated the municipalities of Niederanven and Steinsel in her respective speeches. She emphasised that citizens are the actors of living together. Living in a municipality means being involved and participating at a local level. The minister reminded the audience that one way of participating is to register on the electoral roll and to vote in the municipal elections of June 2023. Furthermore, Corinne Cahen emphasised that the promotion of intercultural living together requires the sharing of good practices and the municipalities of Niederanven and Steinsel, which have initiated very promising actions, can be sources of inspiration for other municipalities.

In Niederanven, Louis Oberhag, vice-president of SYVICOL, highlighted the dynamism of the municipality and thanked it for its willingness to continue its commitment to local integration and social cohesion through the "Pakt vum Zesummeliewen".

In his speech in Steinsel, president of SYVICOL, Emile Eicher also thanked the municipality for its participation in the "Pakt vum Zesummeliewen" project and reiterated SYVICOL's support throughout the process.

By signing, the municipalities express their commitment to a multi-annual process based on three pillars: communication, access to information and participation of all people living or working in the municipality.

They are accompanied by integration counsellors who accompany the process and by the Ministry in close collaboration with its contracted partners CEFIS and ASTI.

In the coming months, other municipalities will join the 30 signatory municipalities of the "Pakt vum Zesummeliewen".

The origins of the "Pakt vum Zesummeliewen"

At the beginning of 2021, the Ministry of Family Affairs, Integration and the Greater Region initiated a pilot project aimed at a more dynamic and multi-annual integration process.

Since the start of the project, 30 municipalities have signed the "Pakt vum Zesummeliewen".

The "Pakt vum Zesummeliewen" in five steps:

1.      Political commitment through the signing of the "Pakt"

2.      Inventory of the needs of the municipality

3.      Citizens' workshops developing actions to promote integration

4.      The implementation of actions to promote integration

5.      Evaluation of the work done and planning of the next steps

The implementation of the "Pakt" is closely accompanied by a team from the Integration department of the Ministry of Family Aiffairs, Integration and the Greater Region, its contracted partners ASTI and CEFIS, as well as four integration advisors. The latter make their expertise available and pass on good practices between the participating municipalities. Other partners, in particular local actors, are called upon to get involved and participate in the conception and implementation of living together in the territory of their municipality, or even the surrounding region.

To illustrate the possibilities of getting involved as a citizen in the various stages of the process, the Ministry has produced a brochure in four languages which is available to the participating municipalities. The "Pakt vum Zesummeliewen" is also summarised on the Ministry's website: Pakt vum Zesummeliewen 

Press release by the Ministry of Family Affairs, Integration and the Greater Region