ESF-SI-2024-UA-01-0060

This project responds to the key needs of people displaced from Ukraine who found safety in the Baltic states. It targets persistent barriers of establishing an autonomous, stable and rooted existence in Baltic societies, however long individuals will stay. It aims to deploy solutions that have been proven to be effective, but are typically otherwise effort-intensive, and place stress on state structures. It mobilizes the Red Cross network as part of a society-wide effort to invest in individuals. It does so through scalable, innovative solutions that are targeted at specific challenges in labour market integration, language acquisition, and local contextual knowledge, and at the same time create social cohesion opportunities to foster more inclusive societies. It offers solutions that rely on the power of communities and peer support by building connections among participants as well as with local members of the host society. Besides tailored investment in individual capacities to help navigate the labour market, this project aims to also remove the disadvantages that people arriving from Ukraine have while trying to navigate a foreign society. It recognises that basic knowledge and connections that are considered a given for locals are hard to gain without facilitation and can block the success of newly arrived people who did not natively acquire them before. As members of a global humanitarian network but also embedded in societies at a hyperlocal level in a network of branches and volunteers, the Red Cross aims to serve as a channel of entry into society. Goals will be achieved by mobilizing expert knowledge from the private sector (career, language and vocational training providers) as well as from communities. Activities of the project are based on an understanding of existing state services, gaps, and areas of support that states struggle to sustain. The project utilises in-person and digital methods, and actions with a low threshold to initiate and replicate.

Funding: 572,974.00 Eur