COOPERATION FOR IMPROVED REFUGEE INTEGRATION, VOLUME 3

From June 24th to 31st 2024, YC Epirus hosted an international training course about refugee, asylum seeker, and displaced people integration. The training was implemented in Ioannina, Greece, under the framework of the Erasmus+ program.

The training course involved 34 participants from 11 partner organisations in different countries - apart from YC Epirus in Greece, other participants came from Eurasia Net (France), Burgerplicht Gent (Belgium), Fundacija Polskie Forum Migracyjne (Poland), On the Road - Associação Humanitária (Portugal), SE.M.I. – Seeds for More Interculture APS (Italy), Club Deportivo Sendeja (Spain), Aydin Adnan Menderes University (Turkiye), UNIT (Ukraine), Bulgarian Council on Refugees and Migrants (BCRM) (Bulgaria), Have a Dream (Egypt) and Jordan Youth Innovation Forum Society (Jordan). 

The main theme of this training course was refugee and asylum seeker integration within youth work and volunteering, with a special accent on safety, security, and protection of underage people. The background of the participants was important to reach the aims of the project - they were social workers, youth workers, and volunteers already working with asylum seekers, refugees, and displaced people.

The main aim of the project was to improve the quality of young refugee, asylum seeker, and displaced people integration in their new communities. In order to work towards the aim, the specific objectives of the project were: 

* To promote youth work and non-formal education as tools for young refugee integration in local societies;

* To promote young refugee dignity and active participation in their integration process;

* To promote quality in the youth work and non-formal educational activities that young refugees participate in;

* To address tailored child protection and safety during youth work and non-formal education activities for young refugees;

* To improve relevant competences of 34 youth workers and other professionals doing youth work with young refugees;

* To promote cooperation and experience exchange among 11 partner organisations and their 34 staff members;

* To define and propose guidelines for qualitative and tailored youth work towards refugees. 

Activities of non-formal educational nature invited participants to join group works, research, debates, discussions, interactive presentations, experience sharing, networking, theater, activities design and guideline development activities. Specific themes covered within activities were: qualitative and effective youth work for young refugees regarding ethics, safety and security, protection from sexual exploitation and abuse, child protection, humanitarian work principles, tailored and needs based non-formal education, consideration of active diversity, inclusivity, empathy, cultural relativism, rites of passage, and others.