Integration

Implementation Period:

June 2019 - November 2020

Collaborators:

IOM funded by the Directorate General for Migration and Home Affairs of the European Commission (DG HOME)

Country of implementation:

Greece (Athens, Thessaloniki)

Goals:

To strengthen the prospects of independence of the beneficiaries by making them active members of Greek society.

To create an integration mechanism for these groups that will constitute a rotation mechanism in the already existing temporary housing system of Greece.

Actions:

Integration courses:

Integration courses in Integration Training Centers throughout the country. Each course will last 6 months and will include modules related to learning the Greek language, cultural orientation, degree of readiness for work and other skills.

Housing support: Support for self-contained apartments in rented apartments by giving them rent and moving expenses contributions and networking with apartment owners.

Employment Support: Provision for individual employment opportunities and enhancing work readiness by providing consulting services, access to job-related certifications and networking with potential employers.

Monitoring the integration process: Regularly evaluate the progress of the integration of the beneficiaries to ensure that they are able to negotiate successfully with the Greek public services after the completion of the HELIOS program and that they can live independently in Greece.

Awareness raising of host communities: Organizing workshops, activities and events and conducting a nationwide information campaign to create opportunities for interaction between the host and the host community, stressing the importance of integrating immigrants into Greek society.

Duration:

27/8/2018 - 31/8/2020

Collaborator:

World Jewish Relief

Place of implementation:

Athens

Goals/Actions:

• Explores the profile of the unemployed refugee, the needs, the barriers to the entry into the labor market
• Provides consulting services (Career Orientation Counseling, Job Search Counseling and Business Initiative Counseling) for the integration / reintegration of the unemployed refugee into the labor market.
• Supports the service provider in creating CV & Cover Letter as well as in creating profile on Linkedin • Posts the profile of the unemployed refugee on a specially designed platform.
• Performs the process of connecting between an unemployed profile and a vacancy.
• Monitors the progress of the employee both during the job search and during his / her placement in the job.
• It suggests free Greek and English courses at the intercultural center of GCR- Pyxida and with an orientation to the labor markets.
• Organizes an intensive weekly seminar "Working in Greece" to selected employees in order to give them additional motivation to finding a job, with courses by experts in critical areas such as: Labor rights, Techniques to find a job & interview, Analysis of a strong presentation and submission of these in the CV and elsewhere, Presentation techniques and separate courses for the sectors of the targeted 6 professional branches: Cleaning services, Tourism and Hospitality, construction & technical et. ireies, interpretation services, agriculture and IT technology.
• Collaborates with private sector bodies and other organizations, with the aim of more effectively connecting GCR with the labor market and the local community.
• Conducts meetings with employers (within GCR organization or at the company's headquarters) with the aim of informing them about the actions of GCR and concluding cooperation.
• Searching for vacancies offered by employers.
• Records the profile of the job offered.
• Refers to and accompanies employees in job offers for job interviews and supports them in their job placement.

Implementation Period:

1/11/2016 – 31/12/2018

Partner:

AidLearn (Portugal) Hamburger Volkshochschule (Germany), Centro Studi Citta' Di Foligno (Italy), The Slovenian Third Age University (Slovenia), IADT (Ireland) co-funded by the European Union's 'Erasmus+' programme

Place of implementation:

Athens, Portugal, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Ireland

Goals:

RefugeesIN is an innovative approach to promoting social inclusion. It concerns the creation of a film-based educational material aimed at encouraging intercultural dialogue, eliminating stereotypes and promoting the social inclusion of refugees. It presents true stories of successfully integrated refugees, capable of inspiring and acting as role models for the integration of newcomers.

Actions:

The RefugeesIN package consists of 4 Parts:

The "From The Fugitive to Belonging" Brochure, which includes 26 true stories of refugees from different countries of origin now living in one of the six European countries that implemented the programme.

The Course and the Handbook, which concerns an educational material that includes a theoretical part about the refugee crisis, the process of telling stories and biographies and the role of cinema, and finally describes step by step and instructs the creation of documentaries through a complete film workshop.

The Film Catalogue, consisting of 12 short documentaries, created by amateur filmmakers through the workshops held in each country and presenting refugee stories and the efforts they made to integrate into their new homelands. It also includes 12 European feature films, selected by the RefugeesIN group on the social inclusion of refugees.

The User Guide, which includes instructions for the exploitation and optimal use of educational material. It is addressed to adult educators, working NGOs and professionals working with refugees. It provides additional suggestions on how the material can be used in other educational activities and events.

Results:

The project and its results are mainly aimed at adult refugee trainers, staff employed in civil society organisations, social inclusion specialists and film specialists. The entire material is available on the project's website.

• Interkulturelles Zentrum (IZ)
• Centre for Peace Studies (CPS)
• Asylum Protection Centre
• Greek Council for Refugees
• Legal-informational centre for nongovernmental organisations (PIC)
• Legis
• Asylkoordination Austria
• Hungarian Helsinki Committee
• Arts and Human Rights Organisation

• Research work (local research implemented by project partners)
• Exchange meeting
• Local activities
• Joint European Event
• Dissemination activities

• Carrying out research, exchange of views and good practice on local solidarity initiatives that have been developed in recent years
• Identification of NGOs and bodies that design and carry out specific activities / initiatives at regional and national level
• Emphasizing the themes that dominate to see if they are relevant to the real needs of refugees / asylum seekers
• Emphasizing the issues that dominate each country
• Identifying ways in which European programs and strategies can support the solidarity movement

Balkan Refugee Trail – A pathway for European Solidarity

Implementation of activities

Check the project's progress final report

• Municipality of Thessaloniki
• UNHCR

• GCR
• Arsis
• Praksis
• HLRN
• YMCA
• Municipality of Kalamaria
• Municipality of Neapoli-Sykies

On 25 October 2015, Greece and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees committed themselves to the European Commission to implement a program to provide 20,000 reception and temporary accommodation in Greece. The project concerns Asylum seekers and candidates for relocation from the country (Relocation scheme).

In this context, the Municipality of Thessaloniki, implements the project RE.A.C.T. (Refugee Assistance Collaboration in Thessaloniki) for the above groups in the form of rented accommodation and adoption of families of refugees from families in Thessaloniki.

In order to cope with such an important undertaking, a social partnership was formed with a leading partner of the Municipality of Thessaloniki and with partners the Municipality of Neapolis-Sykies, the Municipality of Kalamaria, the Region of Central Macedonia, the SAN and the NGOs GCR, PRAKSIS, ARSIS, and the Hellenic League for Human Rights.

The aim of the program is to ensure decent living conditions for beneficiaries of international protection for refugees who have applied for asylum and relocation, with emphasis on vulnerable social groups.

The aim is to create 620 reception and temporary accommodation in rented apartments, 40 in the host families of Thessaloniki and 28 in the Shelter for Asylum Seekers’ Families.

In this context, GCR provides legal information and counseling at both individual and group level on:

• Asylum issues (access to the asylum procedure, rights and obligations of asylum seekers, relocation, family reunification, Dublin Regulation)
• Legal issues that arise in the context of hosting the beneficiaries and relate to their personal situation and the exercise of their rights.
• Mediation between competent authorities / authorities and beneficiaries (eg municipalities, asylum services, police, social services / structures, etc.) and referrals to appropriate structures / services of people with vulnerability.

• Municipality of Thessaloniki
• UNHCR

• GCR
• Arsis

The “Shelter for Asylum Seekers’ Families” is a social structure that has been created in 2015 under the cooperation of the Municipality of Thessaloniki, which is the coordinator of the project, the Non-Governmental Organization “Arsis” and the Greek Council for Refugees, which are partners of the project. The building in which the Shelter is hosted belongs to the Municipality of Thessaloniki and it is located at the district of Toumba (addr.: Androu 1). Currently the Shelter operates is funded by the EU with the cooperation of UNHCR, under the operating project of REACT (Refugee Assistance Collaboration in Thessaloniki).

The Shelter refers to persons that have applied for international protection in Greece. In detail, it refers to:

• nuclear families with at least one underage child, - singleparent families consisted of either the mother or the father and at least one underage child,
• single adult women in a state of pregnancy.

The services that the specialized personnel of the Shelter provides with include:

• coverage of basic needs (six month accomodation, feeding),
• support (legal, psycho-social, labor market integration advisory),
• language interpretation,
• educational activities for children, adolescents and adults (Greek language learning, workshops etc.),
• preparation for autonomous living and social inclusion,
• metamonitoring and support after the end of the hosting period,
• awareness-raising measures and actions of networking with the local community,
• volunteerism.

The Shelter for Asylum Seekers’ Families constitutes an intermediate social structure in the transition process from the uncertainty of the first reception and/or detention to the autonomous social life under the recognition of the civil and social rights of the international protection applicants. The aim is the provision of support services which can lead to the empowerment and the autonomization of the structure’s guests.

For further information you may contact with the Social Work Service of the Shelter from 10.00a.m. till 14.00p.m. and from 17.00 p.m. till 20.00 p.m.

Tel.: 2310920670

Email: filoxeniothess@gmail.com

Collaborators:

CEAR with the funding of the Municipality of Madrid

Country of Implementation:

Greece, Attica regio

Aims:

Τo ensure provision of effective and safe services for 280 persons likely to be in need of international protection in situation of vulnerability, in Attika-Greece.

Activities:

• To provide dignified housing alternatives and social counseling for vulnerable people which are likely to be in need of international protection. This activity includes the provision of vouchers for the purchase of essential items.
• To guarantee access to legal counseling, support and/or representation for people likely to be in need of international protection

• To increase access to information and protection through the provision of holistic and multi-disciplinary services
• Ensure the integration of the aforementioned group into Greek society

• Office-based provision of legal information, counselling and support for the beneficiaries who do not reside in the camps and are located in informal shelters and other urban settings and arrive at GCR offices for assistance
• Office-based provision of legal information, counselling and support for the beneficiaries who reside in the urban housing project implemented by HELP.
• Mobile provision of legal information, counseling and support for the beneficiaries who reside in the sites and mapping/prioritization (through needs assessments by GCR expert staff) of the most vulnerable cases which should be transferred to the houses leased by HELP.
• Office-based provision of information, psychosocial counselling and social support for the beneficiaries who do not reside in the camps and are located in informal shelters in other urban areas.
• Office-based provision of information, psychosocial counselling and social support for the beneficiaries who reside in the urban housing project implemented by HELP.
• Mobile provision of information, psychosocial counselling and social support for the beneficiaries who reside in the sites and mapping/prioritization (through needs assessments by GCR’s experts of the most vulnerable cases which should be transferred to the houses leased by HELP.

Implementation Period:

July 2012 - June 2013, September 2013 - June 2014

Administrator:

Greek Council for Refugees

Collaborators:

Greek Refugee Forum

Country:

Greece

Category:

European Refugee Fund (ERF) - National Actions

Goals:

Strengthening the efforts of the target group to integrate smoothly into Greek society through complementary actions to empower refugees

Providing social and psychological support and counseling in areas such as:

-the means of subsistence

-integration into the labor market

Actions:

• specialized legal assistance for accession issues and protection of social rights (indicatively, labor disputes, naturalization, family reunification)

• Greek language teaching and learning activities

• Advocacy for refugees

Expected Results:

1,100 people to benefit from counseling support services, and 350 to be promoted in the labor market

Implementation Period:

July 2011 - June 2012

Collaborators:

ERGON - KEK

BRIDGE African Union of Women

Association of Afghan Refugees and Migrants in Greece - The Community of Afghan Refugees and Migrants in Greece

Country:

Greece

Category:

European Refugee Fund (ERF) 2010 - National Actions

Priority: integration of target groups (asylum seekers and refugees) whose stay in Greece is permanent and stable

Goals:

Improving the efforts of the target group for their smooth integration into Greek society.

Actions:

• Proposed actions include the provision of social, psychological and medical assistance as well as accommodation advice, livelihoods, labor market integration, as well as cultural and educational activities.

• Action 1: Advice and assistance on issues such as housing, livelihoods, labor market integration and medical, psychological and social assistance.

• Action 2: Activities to help the target group adapt to Greek society at social and cultural level.

• Action 3: Activities emphasizing education and vocational training (eg Greek language courses etc.) aimed at empowering and developing target group skills.

Results:

As a result, the support offered will improve the mobilization and capabilities of refugees, boost confidence, assist in problem solving, learn crisis-solving techniques, mobilize refugees in their environment.