PROGRAM

08.30- 08.45 Arrival-Registration

08.45 – 09.00 Short-films projection & Exhibition of children’s drawings from the Ecole Maximilien (BE) & Skaramagas Camp (GR)

09.00 – 09.40 Education in Emergency situations and Protracted Crises – Responses from the EU and the International Community

Moderator ALBIOL Marina, MEP GUE/NGL

MAGENNIS Sophie, Head of the Policy and Legal Support Unit, UNHCR Bureau for Europe 

JACOB Divya, Education Specialist, UNICEF Lebanon

GAMMARELLI Ludovico, Program Manager, Emergency Assistance inside in the EU, DG ECHO 

09.40 – 10.40 Experiences from the field / Good Practices

Moderator: STELIOS Kouloglou, MEP GUE/NGL

With the intervention of:  STYLIANIDES Christos, Commissioner, DG Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management

ANDROUSOU Alexandra, Scientific Committee of the Greek Ministry of Education for the support of refugee children, Athens / Greece

GOULIS Dimitris, Director 67th high-school, Ksirokrini Thessalonikis / Greece 

KOMMAM ALBABILLI Luaay, Founder of Hope School Project, Skaramagas Camp, Athens / Greece

FAVIERES Paloma, Coordinator of the Juridical Service, Spanish Refugee Support Council / Spain

DI LORENZO Lorena, Terres Des Hommes, Field officer of “Faro” project/ Coordinator of psychosocial activities, Sicily / Italy

10.40- 11.00 Discussion

(Interpretation: DE-IT-EN-EL-ES-PT)

12.30 -15.00 Informative Field Visits to organisations offering housing and education to refugee children (Limited Number of Places)

Guest organisations:

North West Migrants’ Forum (Ireland), ART Angels Relief Team (Lesvos Island), Be Aware and Share (Chios Island), Secondary School (Stockholm), Medecins du monde-Grece, PRAKSIS (Athens) and others

Click here for information on the speakers

Presentation of the Initiative

Children count for more than half of the refugees globally while those coming just from two countries, Syria and Afghanistan, mount up to half of the total number of children refugees. The UN estimates that 10 million children are refugees. According to a UNHCR report released in mid-September 2016, there are 6 million school-age children refugees worldwide, 3.7 million of which have no access to education. Several protection issues are of major concern, as many of them and especially unaccompanied minors can be subjected to various forms of abuse, including trafficking and human smuggling. At the same time, racist and xenophobic rhetoric is on the rise in many European countries, targeting even small children who expect to attend a school class.

The way in which the EU Member States are addressing the educational needs of refugee children should be an issue of common concern. A basic precondition to shaping a better future is to ensure access to public education for all children. Which are the educational strategies that are being implemented for refugee children? What are the opportunities for children with specific educational needs? How is the work of civil society filling the gaps? Are there any good practises around Europe and how could transfer of expertise take place and bring about positive results? All these are issues needed to be addressed and further analysed with the aim to create open and flourishing diverse societies.

The European Parliament has adopted in November 2015 the Resolution on education for children in emergency situations and protracted crises, where it stresses that education is a fundamental human right and the right of every child and acknowledges the gaps in the education response to emergencies. It is under this scope that GUE/NGL is organising the conference “Education for Refugee Children – Current Practises and the Way Ahead” aiming at presenting the current situation in an International and European framework and highlighting the shortcomings of national responses in the provision of adequate protection for children on the move, as well as the good practices at place, with a focus on education.

For info and registration please contact: [email protected]