• By offering advice and support to local authorities to develop new or adjust existing services to meet the needs of refugee and migrant children, and overcome challenges faced by them in accessing services at the local level. This includes assisting schools and teachers in developing support services and in building skills to work in diverse cultural environments 28. In Finland, SOS Children’ s Villages achieved this through cooperating with the city of Espoo in developing the city’ s services for refugees. This approach facilitates the sustainability of projects 29.
• By providing accurate information to the local community to facilitate mutual understanding. SOS Children’ s Villages in Serbia engages with the parents of local students, schools directors, teachers and other staff to discuss the strengths and challenges faced by the new students. These efforts facilitate the inclusion of the refugee children into local life, helping them make friends and supporting a more welcoming environment.
• By facilitating opportunities for the local population and newcomers to meet and establish relationships. Initiatives to enable people to get to know each other are crucial to build mutual understanding and to increase support among the local population, as well as to address fears. For example, Reach for Change in Sweden supports an initiative enabling young people who are newly arrived in the country to provide IT training to Swedish older people. In Salzburg, SOS Children’ s Villages Austria enables unaccompanied children and young people between the ages of 16 and 21 to live in a student residence facility where they can interact with German-speaking and international students, and gradually integrate into the community.
• By supporting disadvantaged children, including migrant and refugee children 30, to access high quality vocational and tertiary education, including through the provision of financial support, scholarships, mentorship and other measures such as the elimination of fees to offset the disadvantage experienced. For example, Reach for Change in Sweden supports a mentorship programme through which higher education students coach and motivate prospective students who have arrived in the country as unaccompanied and separated children to enrol in university and pursue higher education.
• By establishing partnerships with employers to increase employability and employment opportunities for all disadvantaged young people, including refugee and migrant young people. Quality internships and other measures should be available to facilitate access to decent work and entrepreneurship. For example, SOS Children’ s Villages Sweden cooperates with businesses, which offer vocational training and internships to unaccompanied young people who participate in the SOS Children’ s Villages mentorship programme. The city council in Haapajärvi, Finland, organises summer jobs for all of the young people participating in the SOS Children’ s Villages project in the city.
28 _ Ibid. 29 _ Sustainability is defined as the extent to which the benefits delivered by a project continue after external assistance has ended. SOS Children’ s
Villages, PRAG Institutional Funding, Practical Guide( September 2015).
30 _ In line with European Commission Recommendation on Investing in Children: ' Breaking the Cycle of Disadvantage ", 20 February 2013, which recommends Member States to“ Ensure a focus on children who face an increased risk due to multiple disadvantage such as Roma children, some migrant or ethnic minority children, children with special needs or disabilities, children in alternative care and street children, children of imprisoned parents, as well as children within households at particular risk of poverty, such as single parent or large families”
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