Purpose:
The Annisa programme is a project focused on the participation and interaction of Pakistani communities and the Besós neighbourhood in the district of Sant Martí.
The programme is funded by Barcelona City Council. Following a public invitation to tender, it is currently being run by ‘Martinet Solidari’, while Sant Martí District’s Intercultural Area and the city BCN Interculturalism Programme are also involved in its monitoring and technical support.
The programme's initial goal was to encourage women to take part in neighbourhood life through knowledge of their surroundings, contacts with the social, health, leisure and community action services and resources, and to provide Spanish classes for enhanced language and communication skills.
Process:
It got off the ground in the Besós neighbourhood at the end of 2014, taking over from Saha project that was then working with Pakistani women, but which had no organic links with the municipal structure. The subsequent stage of the project has involved consolidating a programme to promote the participation and interaction of the Pakistani communities with and between the Besós neighbourhood, both on an administrative level in the classic participation forums and on a street level.
The Programme has provided a physical meeting place for Catalan women of Pakistani origin where Spanish classes are run and talks are held, along with other meetings to talk about matters of interest or concern to the women taking part in the project.
At the Concepció Arenal school (Sant Martí), after-school Urdu classes have begun, promoted by the Pakistani community in the Besòs neighbourhood. At the same time, parents of foreign origin of the school's pupils are giving Catalan classes.
Impact:
Some of the existing barriers and challenges to the achievement of the programme goals have been detected.
The project is at a more advanced stage and it has been expanding its area of action. Therefore, the programme now also intends to influence the bodies taking decisions on social action in the neighbourhoods, introduce mechanisms to neutralise the existing gap in access to services and participation, as well as promote and/or recognise the existence of other participation spaces in the Besós neighbourhood, for and with, the Pakistani community
