Skills and Integration of Migrants, Refugees and Asylum Applicants in European Labour Markets (SIRIUS)

SIRIUS is an EU founded project which was launched in January 2018 and will run for three years. It is consisted of 11 partners from 7 countries and it builds on a multi-dimensional conceptual framework in which host country or political-institutional, societal and individual-related conditions function either as enablers or as barriers to migrants’, refugees’ and asylum seekers’ integration via the labor market.

SIRIUS has a mixed methods approach and innovative dissemination plan involving online priority action networks, film essays, festival, job fair and an applied game along with scientific and policy dialogue workshops and conferences.

To do so, it has three main objectives:

•  to provide systematic evidence on post-2014 migrants, refugees and asylum applicants especially women and young people and their potential for labor market employment and, more broadly, social integration
• to advance knowledge on the complexity of labor market integration for post-2014 migrants, refugees and asylum applicants, and to explore their integration potential
• to advance a theoretical framework for an inclusive integration agenda, outlining an optimal mix of policy pathways for labor market integration including concrete steps that Member States and other European countries along with the EU can take to ensure that migrant-integration policies and the broader system of workforce-development, training, and employment programs support new arrivals’ access to decent work opportunities and working conditions.

As one of the 3 NGOs involved in the project, SolidarityNow saw this project not only as being great opportunity but also as an important effort because labor market integration is part of what we do through our programs and advocacy efforts. We saw it as an opportunity to better inform our work and services and on the other help us develop more evidence-based research and policy recommendations at the national level.

Finally, we recognized the gender- sensitive approach the project is taking, which aligns with how we seek to support women and the additional burdens they face and our goal to reach an in-depth understanding of gender differences. Within the Consortium, we are focusing on the practical implementations of the research findings by hosting a Job Fair in Thessaloniki in spring 2019, and the testing of a Serious Game that employment agencies, migrant organisations and other stakeholders seeking to facilitate the labor market inclusion of recent migrants, asylum seekers and refugees will be able to use.

For more information, please visit the project’s website: https://www.sirius-project.eu/

 

REWIP- Refugee Empowerment and Work Integration Program

EWIP is an EU-funded project aiming at supporting young migrants, refugees and asylum seekers (aged 18 – 30) that arrive in a new country of residence in the EU and wish to make their first steps towards achieving work integration and as an extension, social integration.

REWIP aims at achieving this goal by initiating and facilitating volunteering and mentoring opportunities for young migrants, refugees and asylum seekers who wish to work voluntarily in a local business for a limited amount of time, learn a new profession or further develop an already familiar one, as well as liaise meaningfully with a professional mentor who can guide them in their professional endeavours. REWIP draws and further advances existing methodologies of work integration, scouting for best practices and attending to its target groups’ needs and preferences.

The logic behind REWIP is that if newly arrived young people are supported to receive all the information, resources and networks they need to begin their professional journey in a new unknown country, they will eventually be able to stand on their own two feet and prosper. As such, REWIP has planned to offer young migrants, refugees and asylum seekers  training resources focusing on social empowerment, on intercultural knowledge and on pre-employment preparation. These training resources are meant to support young migrants, refugees and asylum seekers feel empowered, get to know the culture of their host country, and familiarise themselves with its labour market system.

The project was implemented by the University of Pireus in collaboration with Stimmuli, SolidarityNow, Ethelon, NewBees, and CESIE.

Refugees WelComB!

Refugees WelComB! Is a European project funded by Erasmus+. The Strategic Partnership led by Kontakte für Europa e.V. (Germany), brings together seven (7) organizations from Germany, Greece (SolidarityNow), Hungary (Artemisszio Alapitvany), Italy (Associazione InformaGiovani), Spain (Madrid for Refugees), Bulgaria (Ocean Whale), and Turkey (TC Buca Kaymakamligi).

The project aims to enhance the social and professional integration of refugees and to improve the interdisciplinary co-operation in this field. In the framework of the Strategic Partnership two surveys will be conducted in the seven (7) partner countries targeting refugees and relevant stakeholders.  The findings of the surveys and the integration plans applied in partner countries will be analyzed and shared as best practices.

 

 

Resilient Roots Initiative

SolidarityNow has been implementing since July 2018 an accountability pilot project entitled “The Resilient Roots Initiative”. The project, which is coordinated by CIVICUS in collaboration with Keystone Accountability & Accountable Now, aims to improve the interaction channels between the SolidarityNow management and its Primary Constituents. Sixty young SolidarityNow beneficiaries (incl. former unaccompanied minors, women, LGBTI) from Athens and Thessaloniki will participate in a range of activities aiming to increase the frequency and depth of their interaction with the SolidarityNow management:

1. Photo trainings
2. Online radio trainings (production of podcasts)
3. Trainings to inform and capacitate its Primary Constituents (public speaking & team building exercises, presentation of SN’s mission, programmes and Concern Response & Feedback Mechanism)
4. Feedback exercises (one-to-one interviews, FGD & satisfaction survey)
5. Small Grant allocation to the groups of participants to self-organize an action benefiting their community
6. Monthly meetings (grant assistance, Reporting back meetings, meetings with senior management).

The above activities will enable the collection of more/better feedback by the SolidarityNow primary constituents, to influence more informed decision making, and will improve the relaying of information about how SolidarityNow is responding to feedback back to its primary constituents.

 Expected outcomes

1. Interaction between constituents & SN management will be systematized
2. Participants will acquire soft & hard skills (photography & radio, public speaking, team work) and will increase their level of knowledge about SN and its work
3. Participants are provided with financial means to design & run mini-community activities for their community’s benefit
4. PCs’ voice is heard and introduced by advocacy & communications dept. in public sphere

The project, which is funded by the Social Sector Accelerator (on behalf of CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation), was completed in August 2019.

“Migrant & Youth Social Inclusion Through Entrepreneurship”_#MySite

SolidarityNow, is partnering with five organizations from five EU countries to promote youth and migrant entrepreneurship and to highlight its significance as a means to social inclusion. The project entitled “Migrant and Youth Social Inclusion through Entrepreneurship” aims to promote entrepreneurship as a means towards social inclusion and integration. Beneficiaries of the project will include youth residing in the countries of focus, irrespective of their background, who wish to start their own business as entrepreneurs.

The project is funded by EC’s Erasmus+ programme and will be implemented in five EU countries over a period of 18 months by the following partners:

• SolidarityNow | Greece
• Asociacion Socio Educativa Llere | Spain
• S.F.Or. Centro Studi Formazione Orientamento | Italy
• Aequitas | Cyprus
• The People for Change Foundation | Malta

The project includes the following activities:

• Conduct a research on the landscape and policies for youth and migrant entrepreneurship, as well as the resources made available to young entrepreneurs in each participating country
• Provision of basic entrepreneurship training and individual mentorship by established entrepreneurs, to 20 young individuals who are looking to start a business

And aims to:

• Promote youth entrepreneurship as a means to become self-sustained and financially independent
• Promote the social inclusion of TCN (third country nationals) as well as the re-integration of youth in the labour market, in five EU countries (Greece, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Malta)