Yanya Viskovich
Legal Officer
Duty Station: Geneva, Switzerland
I’m addressing the challenge of enhancing the accessibility of information on and access to scholarships, higher education, vocational training and labour mobility opportunities for refugees and asylum seekers around the world.
The absence of information that consolidates all scholarships, higher education, vocational training and labour mobility opportunities specifically for refugees and asylum seekers presents a clear and stated gap in UNHCR’s assistance delivery that disadvantages refugees and asylum seekers whose education, training and professional pathways have been disrupted by forced displacement.
I want to find a solution to this challenge because information is only useful when it can be searched for and accessed.
Disrupting a young person’s education can have serious, long-term implications, yet this is often a given for most young people forced to flee. Whilst scholarships, higher education, vocational training and labour mobility opportunities for refugees and asylum seekers exist, information about them is scattered across multiple websites and platforms and is not always easy to find. That’s the gap that the Refugee Education and Expert Platform (REEP) seeks to fill. Via access to a ‘one-stop’ central repository of information, access to those opportunities may be enhanced and promoted, as are alternative legal pathways to solutions for refugees and asylum seekers. REEP is a light and easy to use native and web-based mobile application supported by a website and offering a 2G, 3G and 4G interface that is functional across all operating systems. It consolidates information on available scholarships, higher education opportunities, vocational training and labour mobility opportunities specifically for refugees and asylum seekers around the world. It also provides a pool of generalist and specialist mentors to provide refugees and asylum seekers with study, career and professional guidance and advice, information and entry points to professional networking opportunities. By consolidating all of this information in the one place, refugees and asylum seekers can see what is available and take better advantage of those opportunities with the guidance and assistance of qualified mentors.
