Signing of the "Pakt vum Zesummeliewen" with the municipality of Hesperange

At the official signing ceremony on 17 January 2022, the Minister for Family Affairs and Integration, Corinne Cahen, welcomed the decision of the municipality to use the momentum that had already been built up to implement the "Pakt vum Zesummeliewen".

With their signature, the pilot municipalities are underlining that they want to be part of this participatory process.

Marc Lies, mayor of Hesperange, emphasised that living together and interaction are two very important elements in a society and that his municipality is synonymous with the cohabitation of people of all social backgrounds, ages, sexes and origins.

During the signing of the "Pakt vum Zesummeliewen", Emile Eicher, president of the Syvicol, highlighted that the concept of living together presupposes that people talk to each other and exchange ideas. All conceivable means of communication - analogue and digital - must be used for this purpose in order to reach as many people as possible and to involve them in living together.

The minister added that in order to achieve a successful living together at the local level, everyone must play their part: the municipality, the integration committee, local associations and businesses, but above all, the citizens. After all, citizen participation is a key element in the project.

In February and March, the municipalities of Echternach and Schifflange will sign the "Pakt vum Zesummeliewen".

The idea 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, 19 municipalities have signed the "Pakt vum Zesummeliewen".

The five steps of the "Pakt vum Zesummeliewen":

1. Political commitment by signing the "Pakt"
2. Inventory of the needs of the municipality
3. Citizen workshops to develop actions to promote integration
4. Implementation of actions to promote integration
5. Evaluation of the work done and planning of the next steps

The implementation will be closely accompanied by a team from the Integration department of the Ministry for Family Affairs, Integration and the Greater Region, its contracted partners ASTI and CEFIS as well as integration advisors. The latter will provide their expertise and pass on good practices between the participating municipalities. Other partners, in particular local actors, will be called upon to get involved and participate in the conception and implementation of living together in their municipality or the surrounding region.

To illustrate the possibilities of getting involved as a citizen in the various stages of the process, the Ministry has prepared a brochure in four languages, available to the participating municipalities. The "Pakt vum Zesummeliewen" is also summarised on the Ministry's website: Pakt vum Zesummeliewen - Ministère de la Famille, de l'Intégration et à la Grande Région // Le gouvernement luxembourgeois.

In order to make this initiative and the commitment of the municipality more visible, the logo of the "Pakt vum Zesummeliewen" will be made available to the signatory municipalities.

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