Migrants and Refugees as Re-Builders

Migrants and Refugees as Re-Builders

Transforming lives through learning

A new three-year Erasmus+ project has been announced to improve the training of migrants and refugees through adult education.

Migrants and Refugees as Re-Builders (KA2 Cross-borders Intercultural and Societal Entrepreneurs) is a partnership of organisations from the UK, Turkey, Sweden and Spain who are developing innovative training responses to support migrants and refugees from the Horn of Africa, the Middle East, Magreb and Latin America. The project is aimed at supporting adult educators of migrants and refugees in settling into their new communities, re-building their lives, and eventually contributing to the development of their home countries.

The project will offer a curriculum for adult educators, tools for assessing their competence in delivering the material, and evaluating the effectiveness of the training on the integration of migrants and refugees.

The partners come from both academia and non-governmental organisations with a common background for working with migrants and refugees and offering skills development and leadership training. The partners are:

• Initiatives of Change in the UK is the lead coordinator, and has developed trainings in communication and trust-building particularly for migrants and refugees from the Horn of Africa.
• Madrid-based Asociación Progestión provides services for the North African and Latin American diaspora who are at risk of social exclusion. They run a practical legal advice blog, which has over one million visitors.
• Kista Folkhögskolan is a further education college in Sweden with a Muslim ethos.
• The Global Migration Research Centre of Ankara Social Sciences University researches the needs of Syrian refugees families in Turkey.

Catalina Quiroz-Nino, project leader, partnership coordinator and migrant, said: 'We are excited to partner and work towards enhancing adult educators competences and migrants and refugees community life with likeminded organisations and to have the support of the Erasmus+ programme to do this work.'

Dr Muna Ismail, a former refugee herself and IofC staff, said: 'Migration is one of the biggest humanitarian challenges facing Europe today. We believe in supporting migrants and refugees in re-building their lives, and welcoming their contribution to society. We believe education is the solution in helping achieve this. We are excited to partner with likeminded organisations and have the support of the Erasmus+ programme.'

All material created by the project will be available in seven languages: English, Swedish, Spanish, Turkish, Arabic, Somali and Tigrinya and available on the Initiatives of Change UK and on the Erasmus+ websites. The official twitter page is: @M_R_Rebuilders.