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Description
“Work Up” is focused in 80 migrants and refugees and aims at empowerment and their socio-professional empowerment. It encompasses training associated with personal, social and citizenship development, including internships in real work context. They want their own beneficiaries to develop their social and professional skills through training that promotes self-awareness, self-reflection, self-confidence and self-esteem. It also aims to raise awareness among employers of the need for labor inclusion of this social group, with the support of the partner entities that will be the promoters of short-term internships.
Summary of project results
According to the 2017 Activity Report, JRS-Portugal received 1302 migrants seeking support in various areas, such as social, employment, training, health and socio-legal information. The majority of users are women (73 per cent in 2017), come mainly from Guinea-Bissau (28 per cent) and São Tomé and Príncipe (26 per cent) and are of working age, with young people accounting for a very large proportion of users (29 per cent were aged between 18 and 30 in 2017). It should be noted that a significant proportion are in an irregular situation, which reinforces their vulnerability.
In 2017, the JRS Training Academy, through various projects, provided training for around 140 migrants and refugees in various areas, such as caring for the elderly and children, domestic service and supermarket/store replenishment.
However, the training response is still insufficient in the face of high demand. As of January 2018, the Academy has 807 applications in its database awaiting training. In 2017, 59 per cent of the migrants who came to JRS had been in Portugal for less than a year. Their often irregular situation, as well as their poor knowledge of Portuguese culture, including how the labour market works, creates many difficulties for the integration of these newly arrived migrants. These migrants therefore have a very strong need to develop personal, social and professional skills so that they can become active citizens in Portugal.
Therefore the aim of the ‘Work Up’ project is to train the immigrant and refugee population through the development of tailor-made training courses, with a practical training component in a work context. It also focuses on raising awareness among employers with a view to socio-professional integration, involving the business community in this social reality.
This project also responds to a need of families in Portugal, which is also a need of the Portuguese labour market, to train carers, particularly for the elderly.
The project''s activities went ahead as planned, with 88 migrants and refugees receiving empowerment measures. 73 trainees took part in the training programmes, which were positively evaluated and resulted in them receiving a diploma. In this regard, 9 training courses were held (4 in the area of care for the elderly, 3 in the canteen and pantry and 2 in the area of store/supermarket replenishment) based on the methodology created to energise the different training areas. In other words, each training course consisted of a first month of personal development training and the following months of specific training including practical training in a work context with the various partnerships established. In this way, it was possible to train 35 migrants and refugees in the area of basic care for the elderly, 18 in the area of catering and 20 in the area of shop/ supermarket replenishment. All the training courses were complemented by training in job search techniques with the aim of developing the trainees'' skills for actively looking for a job. After this training, the trainees were accompanied by the JRS Employment Office for subsequent referral to job offers. The trainees showed a very active attitude after completing the training, often looking for a job offer on their own. Support between the various training groups also led to new job offers being found.
With this project, it was possible to promote the development of personal, social and professional skills among the migrants and refugees who took part in the different training courses.
According to a questionnaire applied to a sample of project participants by the project''s external evaluator, it was concluded that the migrants experienced an increase in self-knowledge, self-reflection, self-esteem, self-confidence and support network, improved personal relationships, increased social skills, technical and employability knowledge, greater empowerment and socio-professional training and increased definition of their life project.
Finally, the project participants who lived in and around the greater Lisbon area were able to find employment precisely in this area of residence.
Summary of bilateral results
Regarding Caritas Norway, despite several attempts to establish contact throughout the project to share materials and best practices as outlined in the agreement, no response was received to advance this proposed objective. This situation was reported to the managing entity in various progress reports.Therefore, whenever possible and appropriate, other entities were involved in the project. For instance, the Amara Association collaborated voluntarily to provide training on elderly care in the context of bereavement. All previously mentioned partnerships already had a relationship with JRS, except for the Amara Association. The collaboration with the JRS Academy continues by providing practical training in a work context.