Co-design

Promoting an inclusive future is a common goal for all social actors

What is Co-designing

Since 2017, the UNHCR, together with its partner Fondazione Adecco ETS -- has been promoting the inclusion of refugees in the Italian labour market. As part of the “Welcome. Working for refugee integration” programme, it has established a network of over 100 organisations experienced in supporting the inclusion of refugees which can help companies implement a personalised pathway through the development of proximity profiles.

Participating companies

Our approach

We adopt a multi-stakeholder and multi-level system approach to ensure effectiveness and efficiency, sustainability and innovation in the development of labour inclusion pathways.

To this end, we build networks between the public administration, the third sector, companies, and civil society organisations to make the world of work fairer, more accessible and inclusive. Millions of people worldwide have jobs that do not fulfil their potential, a ‘Skill Mismatch’ that has social and economic costs.

All too often, highly skilled people work in low-skilled jobs and companies looking for talent cannot find personnel.

Facilitating access to the labour market for refugees ensures the creation of social and economic value and has a nationwide impact for refugees, their families, hosting communities, businesses, and local economies.

The protagonists’ voices

Abdullaje Toure - Cleaning Specialist - Sodexo Italia

Milan

My name is Abdullaje, mine has been a long journey - I came through Libya and Lampedusa before arriving in Milan. Now I’ve been working at Sodexo for 12 years. I'm happy to be part of a company that believes in me and gave me the chance to start over.
Today, I have a wife, a home, and recently, a son whom I named after my father.

Lucia Cariati - Human Resources - Sodexo Italy

Milan

My name is Lucia Cariati, and at Sodexo Italy, I work every day to give substance to the concepts of respect and inclusion. When we chose to support the UNHCR project, we did so because we believe in the true value of welcoming. Every person who becomes part of our teams brings a story, a journey, and a desire to start again. Supporting them along this path is a mutual enrichment, both human and professional. It’s a value that is reflected in the way we work and gives meaning to our daily actions. That’s why our mission is to improve the quality of life of those who work with us and those we serve, actively contributing to the well-being of the communities where we operate.

Alessandro Cinti – Social Worker, Job Help Desk, Centro Astalli

Rome

The WELCOME – Working for Refugee Integration program has represented a real opportunity for many of the people who attend Centro Astalli, allowing them to access dignified employment in line with their skills.
At the same time, it is helping to raise awareness among companies about the importance of adopting an inclusive approach in the world of work.
For us as social workers, it has been a valuable tool that enabled us to connect with important business realities and guide our beneficiaries through a more targeted employment and training journey—one that considers each person's needs, skills, and aspirations.
Being part of this network is a great honor for us and a real opportunity for both professional and personal growth.

Emanuele Longari – Welcome Liaison Officer – Integra Program

Rome

The coordinating role I play as a WLO is, above all, a work of connection. On one side, the users and the network of local services; on the other, Fondazione Adecco, UNHCR, and the corporate system.
In between, there are paths to build, skills to carefully assess, and contexts to interpret.
Over the past months, I have witnessed strong synergies come to life—synergies that allowed people with complex migration journeys to be re-evaluated for what they are capable of doing.
“Re-evaluating” means just that: looking again, focusing on the skills that are already there, and connecting them to concrete opportunities.
This approach has opened up professional spaces that weren’t even considered before.
It’s not charity—it’s effective planning.

Noemi D’Ambrosio, Director HR, HSE and Communication of NCV S.C.r.l.

Bologna

Every person in NCV is a treasure chest of stories and dreams. Every day we work to make their life path dignified through a new job, supporting their integration with the help of associations, institutions and public actors.
Every person we meet, whether they have just passed through here or have rebuilt their family here, has changed us. For us, welcoming is now not only an act of love addressed to those who arrive, but a message of unity and peace sent to the entire community.

Sandra - Addetta Area Food - IKEA

Rome

I love this job so much. All my colleagues are like a family. They help you, if there’s something I don’t understand they explain it to me, everyone gives a hand, so the work becomes easy and they do it from the heart, there’s no discrimination, nothing negative. I like it a lot.

Valentina Revello - Social and integration worker - Arci Solidarietà

Genoa

Joining this network immediately revealed the potential of collaboration between people and stakeholders: for us staff, it means having the opportunity to get to know and interact with excellent and highly-competent businesses; for the beneficiaries of these projects, it means accessing the labour market with dignity and respect for their rights, but above all in line with their own desires for professional and personal growth, strengthening the awareness of their own skills and abilities.

Mattia Minieri - International Division Manager - Tefin

Naples

We undertook a social and business challenge to give the company new lifeblood, helping people to start afresh and reinvent themselves.

But we also considered the unquestionable value of diversity, which is necessary to remain competitive globally.

Angela Balducci - Sustainability Manager - Lavoropiù

Bologna

Thanks to the program, more and more companies are recognizing the importance of an inclusive approach to work, in a socio-economic context characterized by persistent challenges such as xenophobia and racism. Promoting integration fuels innovation, enriches relationships, with a positive impact on tax revenue and the economy as a whole

Alessandro Borgialli - Director - Adecco Inclusion

Milan

As Adecco Inclusion, we strongly believe in the value of work as a tool for social inclusion. Day after day, we work to support the most vulnerable people by integrating or reintegrating them into the labour market, which is why we have chosen to join "Welcome-in-one-click". To make the world of work more and more inclusive.