Before, I was alone and did not talk to anyone, but when I met Moa, it changed. After meeting Moa, I live a more social life.
By meeting all these new people, I have built a new identity with pieces from many different cultures, which have shaped my new identity, an identity that I enjoy and that suits me well to live here in Sweden.
18-year-old girl from Syria, participant of the Kompis Ungdom project
Kompis Ungdom Kompis Ungdom connects unaccompanied and separated children and young people with Swedish children and youth through a buddy programme. The goal is to erase barriers between“ new” and“ established” Swedes by facilitating links between them and helping them to build lasting, mutually beneficial relationships.
Right to Play In collaboration with municipalities, sport clubs and with the active participation of children, Right to Play offers leisure and educational activities for children and young people which provides them with a social platform and contributes to the development of their life skills.
IT Guide IT Guide offers unaccompanied and newly arrived children afternoon and holiday work opportunities. Children and young people up to the age of 19 work as IT guides educating elderly people in using technology. By participating in the programme, they gain work experience, earn an income and obtain new skills while practising Swedish, which helps them at school. At the same time the seniors gain IT knowledge and have an opportunity to interact socially and learn more about other cultures, religions and ethnicities.
A key element of the Innovation for Integration programme is a focus on partnership and cooperation. It aims to engage key stakeholders such as government authorities in the innovation process. Reach for Change works closely with the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions( SKL) and Förnyelselabbet, its innovation platform that works to improve the lives of newly arrived children and young people. The platform includes a forum where municipalities, government agencies, civil society organisations, unaccompanied and separated children and young people can jointly identify and develop solutions. Most of the initiatives supported by Reach for Change are implemented in collaboration with or with funding from municipalities. Innovation for Integration’ s activities are evaluated on two levels: impact on the organisations and entrepreneurs it supports in terms of organisational development and revenue growth, and impact on children and young people reached by organisations and entrepreneurs.
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