Through the UB Solidarity Foundation, the University of Barcelona participates in this European project to support refugee university students.
The University of Barcelona is one of the six European university institutions that participate, on February 14 and 15 in Rome, at the initial meeting of the RESCUE project, also attended by eight universities from Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan.
RESCUE is a European project of international cooperation based on educational support for refugees in the countries of the MENA region (Middle East and Northern Africa).
The RESCUE project, of three years duration (2016-2019), is co-funded by the program Erasmus+ for capacity building in higher education, and is coordinated by the Mediterranean Universities Union (UNIMED), in which the University of Barcelona takes part.
The main objective of RESCUE is to support universities in Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan in the creation and management of ad hoc support units for refugee university students (R-SOS), whose mission is to structure specific services that advise this group on the resumption of its academic training itinerary.
In some cases, the resumption will consist of access to standard university programs under the same conditions as other students, while in other cases, they will be proposed to follow specific training courses that provide them with skills and competencies for the occupation.
In addition to participating in the initial meeting of RESCUE, the University of Barcelona will also be present at the workshop that UNIMED organizes on February 15 in Rome to discuss the situation of refugees in higher education institutions, both in Europe and in the MENA region, from different experiences and expert voices in this field. The workshop will be attended by representatives of Iraqi, Lebanese and Jordanian universities.
RESCUE is one of the projects that the University of Barcelona promotes within the frame of its Support program for refugees and people from conflict areas, managed by the UB Solidarity Foundation. Within the same program, and in agreement with the City Council of Barcelona, the UB organizes a course on transition to bachelor’s degrees, which is currently performed by fifteen Syrian and Afghans students, mainly from 18 to 24 years old.
