Objectives
News 
"Bridges to Hope", a project launched on the Refugee Day in Romania
Alexandra Mănăilă - Reporter
22 June 2015
The World Refugee Day is celebrated each year on 20 June, since 2001. This year the Scheherazade Foundation, in a partnership with the General Inspectorate for Immigration (IGI), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Bucharest City Hall, celebrated the World Refugee Day two days earlier by an original concert, with influences from Romanian folklore, jazz and oriental music from Iran and Syria.
On this occasion Scheherazade Foundation launched the project "Bridges to Hope - access to quality social services for asylum seekers and persons with a form of protection in Romania." The event was held at the Romanian Peasant's Museum in Bucharest. Participants included foreigners, official persons as well as representatives of several embassies and consulates, such as Bosnia, Slovenia, Georgia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Japan, Palestine, Venezuela, Algeria, Mexico, the Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Germany, Korea, France, Jordan, Brazil, Indonesia and Vietnam.
Show given by foreigners at the Romanian Peasant's Museum
Children from the Regional Centre for Accommodation and Procedures for Asylum Seekers in Bucharest performed an art show with poetry and songs in Romanian language, in the presence of governmental authorities, diplomats and non-governmental organisations. The children learned the language (two of them speaking Romanian perfectly) from a teacher at Scheherazade Foundation, who accompanied them on the scene over the entire duration of the show.
"There are now about 15 children in the centre who have been trained constantly and who were prepared for the artistic performance for the Refugee Day. They come from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Egypt, Syria, the Central African Republic, Nigeria and Honduras. The challenge to perform educational activities with these children is mainly related to the language barriers and to the instability of their presence in the centre", said Wajiha Haris, president of Scheherazade Foundation.
The show also included a musical performance given by three international artists: Mehdi Aminian from Iran, Alexandru Arcuş from Moldova and Mohamad Zatari from Syria. Mehdi Aminian is one of the immigrants who combines traditions and his personal artistic experiences with Romanian folklore music. "Those who performed are not really a group. They are part of a wider project for knowing various cultures, there are more musicians, but only 3 of them came here", said the Foundation’s president.
The interest for art and the way to integrate foreigners by artistic activities will be developed within the project "Bridges to Hope", launched by the foundation. “The relations with Romanian society will be consolidated by the awareness raising and information activities in the community and by promoting cultural diversity events, which will be very important for overcoming communication barriers", said Wajiha Haris.
Social services for 150 vulnerable migrants
The project "Bridges to Hope - access to quality social services for asylum seekers and persons with a form of protection in Romania" aims to contribute to improving access to basic, quality social services for 150 vulnerable migrants (asylum seekers and beneficiaries of a form of protection in Romania). Access to social services for this group is hindered by the deficiencies in monitoring cases, centralising data, using adequate instruments, by the legislative rigidity and communication barriers. The collaboration with IGI and DGASMB warrants a successful approach in compliance with quality standards. The main activities relate to developing a support programme and providing adapted social services, based on an assessment of beneficiaries' needs.
The services envisaged within the project include: counselling and social work; educational support for children who are beneficiaries of a form of international protection and asylum seekers (school subject recovery, non-formal education); services aimed at improving access to the labour market, including by developing entrepreneurial skills; etc.
"The 150 persons in the target group will be selected by several methods, such as: the beneficiaries' actual applications (following the large scale advertising of the services offered within the project), recommendations from the General Inspectorate for Immigration, concluding collaborations with NGOs and aliens' communities in Romania", said the president of Scheherazade Foundation.
The project is funded from the SEE 2009-2014 grants within the NGO fund in Romania, for the amount of 138,250.00 Euro. The project duration is one year, between 01.05.2015 - 30.04.2016. The project will also include good practice exchanges and experience transfer with public and not-for-profit organisations in Norway.
Last year Romania recorded 1,506 asylum requests - according to statistics from the General Inspectorate for Immigration. Most asylum seekers are of Syrian origin (614), followed by Iraqis, Iranians and Palestinians. A number of 713 persons were granted a form of international protection in 2014, most of whom were from Syria.
On this occasion Scheherazade Foundation launched the project "Bridges to Hope - access to quality social services for asylum seekers and persons with a form of protection in Romania." The event was held at the Romanian Peasant's Museum in Bucharest. Participants included foreigners, official persons as well as representatives of several embassies and consulates, such as Bosnia, Slovenia, Georgia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Japan, Palestine, Venezuela, Algeria, Mexico, the Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Germany, Korea, France, Jordan, Brazil, Indonesia and Vietnam.
Show given by foreigners at the Romanian Peasant's Museum
Children from the Regional Centre for Accommodation and Procedures for Asylum Seekers in Bucharest performed an art show with poetry and songs in Romanian language, in the presence of governmental authorities, diplomats and non-governmental organisations. The children learned the language (two of them speaking Romanian perfectly) from a teacher at Scheherazade Foundation, who accompanied them on the scene over the entire duration of the show.
"There are now about 15 children in the centre who have been trained constantly and who were prepared for the artistic performance for the Refugee Day. They come from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Egypt, Syria, the Central African Republic, Nigeria and Honduras. The challenge to perform educational activities with these children is mainly related to the language barriers and to the instability of their presence in the centre", said Wajiha Haris, president of Scheherazade Foundation.
The show also included a musical performance given by three international artists: Mehdi Aminian from Iran, Alexandru Arcuş from Moldova and Mohamad Zatari from Syria. Mehdi Aminian is one of the immigrants who combines traditions and his personal artistic experiences with Romanian folklore music. "Those who performed are not really a group. They are part of a wider project for knowing various cultures, there are more musicians, but only 3 of them came here", said the Foundation’s president.
The interest for art and the way to integrate foreigners by artistic activities will be developed within the project "Bridges to Hope", launched by the foundation. “The relations with Romanian society will be consolidated by the awareness raising and information activities in the community and by promoting cultural diversity events, which will be very important for overcoming communication barriers", said Wajiha Haris.
Social services for 150 vulnerable migrants
The project "Bridges to Hope - access to quality social services for asylum seekers and persons with a form of protection in Romania" aims to contribute to improving access to basic, quality social services for 150 vulnerable migrants (asylum seekers and beneficiaries of a form of protection in Romania). Access to social services for this group is hindered by the deficiencies in monitoring cases, centralising data, using adequate instruments, by the legislative rigidity and communication barriers. The collaboration with IGI and DGASMB warrants a successful approach in compliance with quality standards. The main activities relate to developing a support programme and providing adapted social services, based on an assessment of beneficiaries' needs.
The services envisaged within the project include: counselling and social work; educational support for children who are beneficiaries of a form of international protection and asylum seekers (school subject recovery, non-formal education); services aimed at improving access to the labour market, including by developing entrepreneurial skills; etc.
"The 150 persons in the target group will be selected by several methods, such as: the beneficiaries' actual applications (following the large scale advertising of the services offered within the project), recommendations from the General Inspectorate for Immigration, concluding collaborations with NGOs and aliens' communities in Romania", said the president of Scheherazade Foundation.
The project is funded from the SEE 2009-2014 grants within the NGO fund in Romania, for the amount of 138,250.00 Euro. The project duration is one year, between 01.05.2015 - 30.04.2016. The project will also include good practice exchanges and experience transfer with public and not-for-profit organisations in Norway.
Last year Romania recorded 1,506 asylum requests - according to statistics from the General Inspectorate for Immigration. Most asylum seekers are of Syrian origin (614), followed by Iraqis, Iranians and Palestinians. A number of 713 persons were granted a form of international protection in 2014, most of whom were from Syria.
Back