UB support program to refugees receives the Diversity Prize
The Support program of the University of Barcelona for refugees and people from conflict areas has been awarded one of the Diversity Prizes, given by ACATHI Association (migration, shelter and LGTBI+ diversity), for inclusion of LGTBI+ refugees within the program. The ceremony took place on September 28, within the frame of the Festa de la Diversitat de lʼEsquerra de lʼEixample, and Xavier López, director of Solidaritat UB Foundation, the coordinating entity of the program, took the award. The Diversity Prizes distinguish people, projects and initiatives committed to diversity and promotion of spaces, methodologies and actions with an inclusive perspective.
The Support program of the University of Barcelona for refugees and people from conflict areas has been awarded one of the Diversity Prizes, given by ACATHI Association (migration, shelter and LGTBI+ diversity), for inclusion of LGTBI+ refugees within the program. The ceremony took place on September 28, within the frame of the Festa de la Diversitat de lʼEsquerra de lʼEixample, and Xavier López, director of Solidaritat UB Foundation, the coordinating entity of the program, took the award. The Diversity Prizes distinguish people, projects and initiatives committed to diversity and promotion of spaces, methodologies and actions with an inclusive perspective.
This prize joins now the Magisterio Prize 2017, given to the UB support program to refugees, shared with the Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid (CEAR) and the Complutense and Camilo José Cela universities, “for the work they do to help refugees and asylum seekers access university studies and make their inclusion in the welcoming country possible”.
The UB Support program to refugees and people from conflict areas aims to promote the access of this group to higher education. With this goal, the program includes several action lines, such as actions on academic, educational and social support for young student refugees through university enrolment grants, Catalan and Spanish language courses, tutoring programs, accommodation, legal advice, psychological assistance and support to their labor integration; as well as a transition course to the University -with the support from the Barcelona City Council-, aimed at people under a special economic and human rights vulnerable situation (mainly coming from Syria), which includes accommodation.
As part of the support program, the University organizes several activities on information, training and awareness on the refugee crisis (such as Mare Nostrum project, funded by the Catalan Cooperation Fund for Development), and takes part in European and international projects such as RESCUE (Refugees Education Support in MENA countries) and inHERE (Higher Education Supporting Refugees in Europe). The latter has included the UB program in their Good Practice Catalogue regarding refugeesʼ welcome map.