We did it, and we are moving forward. In 2023, we trained over 100 officials in intercultural communication.

The year 2023, a turbulent one from the perspective of international geopolitics, is behind us. It is a year that also marks a milestone for our project. Although it is intended "only" for domestic civil servants and local government officials, it also carries international social significance and impact. Employees of the Department for Asylum and Migration Policy (OAMP) trained by our instructors, who are in daily professional contact with foreigners, are now able to conduct official dialogues much more effectively—without mutual misunderstandings, frustrations, or even conflicts.

‍

9 TRAINING SESSIONS, 109 TRAINED OFFICIALS, 4 INTERNATIONAL GUESTS

Throughout the year, we organized a total of 9 training sessions in various cities across the country, including 7 introductory and 2 follow-up sessions. A total of 109 employees of the Department for Asylum and Migration Policy (OAMP) completed the training in Pilsen, Brno, Průhonice, and Hostivice. Surpassing the hundred-mark means we exceeded our original guarantee of 90 participants. Moreover, the knowledge imparted by our top instructors—Veronika Slavíková, Kateřina Kopečná, and Miroslava Zápotočná—has a ripple effect: every trained civil servant shares their experience with colleagues and can apply and pass on these skills throughout their long professional careers in the state administration. The wellspring of intercultural, mutually welcoming dialogue never runs dry; on the contrary, the better we understand each other, the fewer barriers of prejudice we will build.

‍

LIVE INTERACTION REMAINS THE FOUNDATION OF THE TRAINING

The "Strengthening" project has always been, and continues to be, based on a non-academic approach to sharing knowledge and experience, and on direct communication with a foreigner as a guest at every individual training session. Live interaction among people sitting in a circle, reacting spontaneously to one another even if they are strangers, while instructors sensitively help them overcome shyness and encourage expression, always bears fruit. The presence of a foreign guest at the training is always significant and valuable. They share their own life stories and offer their own perspectives on the Czech state apparatus and the Czech mentality from that all-important other side—the position of a person whose country's political fate made it impossible to stay where they were born and where they wanted to live their life and start a family. Instead, they are forced to open themselves to a completely different world and adapt to an entirely different culture. In this way, training participants were able to meet Alisa Tronina from Russia, Rameh Ibraheem from Syria, Anna Darashenka from Belarus, and Mai Nguyen from Vietnam.

‍‍

THE GREATEST BENEFIT? THERE IS UNIVERSAL AGREEMENT ON THIS

Anonymous questionnaires show that the greatest benefit for training participants is learning about other cultures—understanding why people behave the way they do, what rituals and habits they have, and how to communicate with them while maintaining dignity and mutual respect for both sides. Graduates also appreciate that the training is packed with practical examples and real-life situations, conducted in a playful and engaging way, and that the friendly atmosphere allows them to ask questions directly to the foreign guest. According to the participants, the training also provides clear information about assistance centers and contacts for non-profit organizations and their experienced experts, who can work with foreigners very effectively and purposefully, as well as basic knowledge on how to properly interact in the presence of an interpreter.

We are entering the new year of 2024 with a commitment to continue this training path, ensuring that the Czech state apparatus has a sufficient number of employees who are professionally confident, operationally prepared for the needs of the multicultural 21st century, and at the same time as open and effective as possible in communicating with and assisting foreigners from third countries and different cultures.