Intercultural Trainings Kompass II

I. BACKGROUND INFORMATION The IOM Country Office for Austria (IOM Austria) is implementing the project “KOMPASS II– Transfer of skills and knowledge to support the Austrian asylum and migration administration with a focus on vulnerable persons” between 1 April 2026 and 31 December 2029. The project is funded by the EU Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund and the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior. The overall objective of the project is to contribute to an optimization of processes, structures and decisions in the context of asylum and migration in Austria, especially with regard to vulnerable persons. One aspect of the project is the provision of two-day intercultural competence training sessions in the abovementioned context.

II. OVERALL PURPOSE OF THE TRAININGS The purpose of the training sessions is to increase mutual understanding between civil servants as well as the staff of organizations working in the context of migrant and asylum and their clients (migrants and asylum seekers). This should reduce culturally based hindrances to communication, which can have a significant impact on procedures and other aspects of migrants’ and asylum seekers’ lives. The focus of the training sessions will include: the definition of intercultural competences, including the concept of culture and diversity; theoretical inputs on elements constituting intercultural competence (e.g. perception, prejudices, tolerance of ambiguity; as well as (self-) reflection on own patterns and conflict competences. The specific content of each training session will be determined based on the needs of the respective target group.