Migrants: A Youth Worker Perspective
CONTEXT:
“Migrants: A Youth Worker Perspective (MAYWP)” is an Erasmus + KA1 youth worker mobility project. The idea of this project was shaped taking into account ECEPAA’s working experience in the field of youth and migration, as well as the direct contact with youth workers activities involving young migrants of its local community. Considering a broader context outside Belgium, the project takes also into account the migration crisis that Europe is facing. MAYWP intent is to stress youth workers’ essential role in this context, through their organizations’ activities which support and assist young migrants at the local level.
OBJECTIVE:
MAYWP aims at connecting youth workers with young migrants. The training, main activity of the project, will focus on a better understanding of young migrants’ needs. It has the purpose of enhancing youth workers’ skills by attracting young migrants to more tailored activities organized by the participanting organizations. The general objective of MAYWP is, therefore, to contribute to a more active participation of young migrants in social life.
PARTICIPANTS:
MAYWP target group are youth workers that have or are willing to have a direct working experience with young migrants. Youth workers have a key role for reaching MAYWP overall objective. However, they should be provided with more adapted skills for understating young migrants’ needs, in order to facilitate their social inclusion.
ACTIVITIES:
The main MAYWP activity was a 5-day training hosted in “De Waterman” hostel in Brussels. During the training, there were external speakers that would foster discussions and open debates about migrants, young worker’s role, and migration itself in Europe. In addition, participants took part in one of the daily activities with young migrants organized by one of the Belgian project partner organizations, in order to encourage a direct contact with hosting organizations’ local community. At the end of the training, participants would plan and design an event based on their common ideas on the best ways of action to address young migrants’ necessities.
METHODOLOGY:
The training was characterized by non-formal and informal learning methods. There were practical insights on the Belgian environment given by external speakers focused on migration and youth workers that would be able to raise critical skills and observation capacities of participants. Furthermore, the training was strengthened by round tables and open debates, soon after the external speakers’ presentation and analysis of the daily topic. They aimed at encouraging the sharing of best practices and exchange of ideas among participants.
RESULT AND IMPACT:
The result of MAYWP would be enhancing youth workers’ skills for better understanding young migrants’ needs; moreover, to encourage their better involvement in participanting organizations’ activities. The achievement of the result was assessed by the comparison of two surveys (one at the beginning and one at the end of the training) that will be administered with the participants. In addition, an event on a common idea was created for a better approach to young migrants involved in the training. The results of that, including a final report, will be disseminated and shared through project organizations. The expected impact of MAYWP is twofold. First, at local level, the project will create better connection between young migrants and youth workers. Second, at a broader level, it will foster the exchange of best practices among youth organizations.