Italy

UNHCR’s Multi-Country Office (MCO) for Italy, the Holy See, and San Marino, based in Rome, also covers Malta and Cyprus with dedicated on-site personnel. Italy is a longstanding partner of UNHCR, ranking among its top 20 donors and a signatory to both the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1961 Statelessness Convention.

UNHCR MCO Italy’s core activities focus on the following critical areas:

• strengthening protection systems in line with the domestic legal framework and the forthcoming EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, including mechanisms to identify and assist people with specific needs
• expanding opportunities for integration and safe pathways, such as labour mobility schemes, which provide dignified alternatives to dangerous journeys, in connection with Italy’s priorities
• engaging in policy dialogue and delivering programmes in crisis-affected contexts and along migratory routes to enhance protection and contribute to stabilization
• promoting the meaningful participation of refugees, asylum-seekers and stateless people in decisions and initiatives that shape their future.

These efforts are pursued in close cooperation with national and local authorities – including the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Ministries of Interior, Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and Labour and Social Policies – alongside municipalities, civil society, academia, the private sector, faith-based organizations, asylum-seekers and refugees.