The Permanent Observatory on Persons with Disabilities with a Migrant Background has been established following the conclusion of the project “Ci siamo” (“Here We Are”), promoted by the ISMU Foundation, the Lombardy Federation LEDHA, and Caritas Ambrosiana.

The Observatory represents a space in which the organisations involved in the project will continue to engage in dialogue and collaboration on issues concerning persons with disabilities and a migrant background. This segment of the population often struggles to find adequate responses within public services and the third sector. The aim is to support these individuals in becoming aware of their rights, responsibilities, and the opportunities available within society, enabling them to play an active role in their personal, family, and social lives.

LEDHA states that “one of the objectives of the ‘Ci siamo’ project was to foster stable collaboration among Third Sector organisations. Those working in the field of disability often lack the necessary expertise to address migration-related needs, and vice versa. The project therefore made it possible to build bridges between these realities, promoting cooperation and exchange in order to provide more appropriate responses to cases of intersectional discrimination.”

Laura Zanfrini, Head of the Economy, Labour and Welfare Area at the ISMU Foundation and initiator of the project from which the Observatory emerged, explains:
“Although they are victims of an invisibility that contributes to obscuring their needs, limiting access to services, hindering the reporting of discrimination, and preventing the recognition of their potential, persons with disabilities and a migrant background are capable of prompting innovative, bottom-up responses. These responses are built by learning from concrete situations and by valuing the extraordinary wealth of knowledge, experience, and sensitivity held both by service professionals and by the individuals at risk of exclusion themselves. Our ambition is to promote a qualitative leap in our ability to respond to the needs and potential of an increasingly heterogeneous society, transforming vulnerability into added value.”

Lamberto Bertolè, Councillor for Welfare and Health of the Municipality of Milan, emphasises:
“Protecting the most vulnerable individuals in order to make their rights genuinely enforceable is one of the priorities pursued by our Department. The Observatory was established to monitor one of the most significant phenomena of our time—migration—while paying particular attention to those who, due to disability, experience an even more pronounced condition of vulnerability. This instrument has the merit of bringing together the various stakeholders working in this field, enabling them to anticipate trends and changes and to envisage appropriate and timely responses.”

Finally, Erica Tossani and Father Paolo Selmi, Directors of Caritas Ambrosiana, add:
“We reaffirm our commitment to working in networks to protect persons with disabilities and a migrant background, who are often victims of double discrimination. Despite this, they too have the right to be recognised as resources for the community and therefore to be actively involved in their communities of reference, enjoying the same opportunities offered to every citizen and participating in all areas of social life.”