Generating livelihood opportunities
Generating livelihood opportunities
UNHCR has put into action strategic partnerships with the private sector, actors and NGOs specialized in livelihoods and employability to promote opportunities for the inclusion of refugees in the labour market. These include upskilling, vocational training and support to both refugees and employers.
Key achievements by UNHCR and partners (since 2022)
6,015
refugees and asylum-seekers received employability services.
1,460
refugees and asylum-seekers hired.
2,128
adult asylum-seekers country-wide attended lanuage classes.
129 refugees obtained a driving licence.
106
collaborations with employers across Greece.
Enabling access to dignified work and livelihoods
Adama Centre, Athens
The Adama Centre, a dedicated space in Athens aims at supporting refugees and asylum-seekers to access dignified livelihoods. Ιt opened its doors in early 2022 in cooperation with UNHCR’s partners Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and Caritas Hellas helping refugees secure employment and access essential social services. The Centre’s expert livelihood officers guide refugees on how to develop their CVs, prepare for an interview and identify employment opportunities. Moreover, they familiarize them with the Greek labour market, their rights and obligations. Through its second pillar, the Centre’s social workers provide valuable support to refugees in search of work to navigate the bureaucratic system and obtain the necessary documentation, such as a social security number or open a bank account in order to work legally in the country. Moreover, they assist vulnerable individuals, including homeless or self-accommodated, to access State social welfare schemes for a dignified living.
The services are accessible to refugees across the country through in-person and remote sessions in English, Farsi, Arabic, French, and Ukrainian.
ADAMA: A Centre helping refugees to become self-reliant. See HERE.
Blue Refugee Centre, Thessaloniki
For refugees and asylum-seekers residing in Thessaloniki region and nearby sites, employability services are accessible at the support hub Blue Refugee Centre run by SolidarityNow in partnership with UNHCR. The centre’s main goal is to help refugees become self-reliant and, for those with specific needs, gain access to essential welfare services.
There, employability officers provide individual career counselling, group info sessions, entrepreneurship seminars and referrals to specialized actors and trainings to facilitate refugees’ integration journey.
Media talk about BRC’s job fairs HERE.
Stepping Stone Programme
Through the Stepping Stone programme, implemented by UNHCR’s partner METAdrasi, adult refugees and asylum-seekers are equipped with essential Greek language and vocational skills which, in turn, improve their employability and social integration prospects. Specially trained educators provide daily Greek language classes that take place in designated areas inside the islands’ sites of Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Kos and Leros and in the urban settings of Athens and Thessaloniki in the mainland.
Educators use different creative techniques to help refugee students learn Greek in a participatory way, including outdoor activities that help them practice their language skills in daily life.
Employability services constitute the second component of the Stepping Stone programme, offering refugees and asylum-seekers career counselling, job matching and specialized pre-vocational trainings, including basic computer classes, CV writing, job searching and preparation for interviews with potential employers.
Greek language courses for adults: building bridges of communication and inclusion. Read the story HERE.
Ready4Business: Entrepreneurship Counselling
In collaboration with METAdrasi, UNHCR launched in 2022 the "Entrepreneurship Counselling - Ready4Business" programme which provides a launching pad for refugees to start their own business. The programme provides entrepreneurial advice and assistance for developing company proposals and it ultimately offers successful candidates holistic guidance on drawing up business plans, including support with the necessary documentation.
See what refugees themselves share on the programme HERE.
Adama Job-Matching Platform
All UNHCR livelihoods partners are continuously monitoring the Greek private sector so as to identify needs in the labour market and potential employers and link them with competent candidates. All this analysis is gathered on the Adama platform, an online job-matching tool enabling the direct linkage between refugees and prospective employers across Greece. This virtual employability space allows refugees to upload their CVs, and employers to advertise their job openings and trainings, while the partners’ staff remain available to assist with enquiries.
Job Fairs
UNHCR joins forces with Greek authorities, municipalities and NGOs to organize job fairs that connect refugees and asylum-seekers with employment opportunities.
During job fairs, which are organized both in mainland and on the islands, employers from various sectors, including agriculture, hospitality and construction, have the opportunity to identify skilled and diverse personnel, while refugees can explore the employment market in Greece and how finding a job works in practice.
Prior to the job fairs, UNHCR, with the help of partners, facilitates multiple sessions to assist refugees create their own CV, prepare them on job interviews and inform them on employment rights and obligations.
See more on Aegean islands’ job fairs HERE.
Developing skills for job readiness
Refugee Women Academy
UNHCR and Piraeus Bank launched in the summer of 2023 the Refugee Women Academy, an innovative programme aimed at bolstering the skills and opportunities of refugee women through vocational training. The programme offers a pathway to decent and sustainable employment in the thriving tourism industry. The Refugee Women Academy directly addresses the specific challenges faced by refugee women, who often encounter barriers to education and employment opportunities.
Developed in collaboration with Odyssea, the curriculum of the Refugee Women Academy covers a range of subjects relevant to the tourism sector, including hospitality, customer service and language skills. Participants benefit from practical training, professional mentoring, and networking opportunities, ensuring a holistic approach to their professional development.
For more information see HERE.
A taste of inclusion: Refugee women build a better future through cooking. See HERE.
Intercultural Mediators
The Intercultural Mediators programme aims to train and certify refugees to provide mediation services to other refugees and asylum-seekers, facilitating their communication and access to essential services, such as accommodation, health and employment.
The programme is implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Migration and Asylum and partner organizations including the Labour Institute of the General Confederation of Greek Workers, the Institute of Small Enterprises under the General Confederation of Greek Professionals, Manufacturers and Merchants and NGO METAdrasi.
See the programme’s site HERE.
Caregivers to People with Disabilities
The Caregivers to People with Disabilities programme trains refugees to acquire the necessary qualifications and skills – including specialized medical terminology – to become caregivers to people with disabilities or chronic diseases. Participants also receive comprehensive support to fulfil registration requirements on the Ministry of Social Cohesion and Family Affairs platform for the respective national programme.
See a video on the programme HERE.
Childcare Assistants
Lack of childcare is one of the main impediments that hold back women from finding work – irrespective of whether they are refugees or not.
The Childcare Assistants vocational programme educates refugees to acquire skills and competencies so that they find employment as nannies in Greece. Upon successful completion, participants have the opportunity to work in the childcare sector, and to join the national roster "Neighbourhood Nannies" of the Ministry of Social Cohesion and Family Affairs.
In addition to providing employment opportunities for refugee women, the programme also supports working mothers in the refugee community by helping them receive childcare from accredited nannies – ideally of the same nationality – thus facilitating their participation in the labour market.
Athens News Agency on the Childcare Assistants programme HERE.
Driving and Road Safety Lessons
UNHCR’s Road Safety programme, implemented since mid-2022 in cooperation with the Catholic Relief Services (CRS), consists of driving lessons and seminars delivered by driving schools and institutions, aimed at preparing participants to sit the national driving license exam in Greece. Apart from acquiring the mandatory driving skills, the participants are also educated on road safety by the Road Safety Institute Panos Mylonas.
Out of the two cohorts of graduates, 60 refugees had received their driving licences by the end of 2023.
The story of Sylvie, a Cameroonian woman trying to drive her own life HERE.