New small-grants program supporting refugees’ inclusion

BRUSSELS – The European Students’ Union (ESU) is opening the second edition of the small grants programme ‘Together, Moving Forward’, empowering positive refugee-host interactions across Europe.

ESU will fund student and refugee-led initiatives at local, national and/or international level. Projects can be funded for any sum up to 10,000 EUR (12,000 EUR for international activities).  The deadline for the 1st stage of applications is  15th of April 2018.

“We encourage student-led groups, especially ESU members, local students’ unions, as well as refugee-led or migrant-led organisations to apply for a grant.  If you are an informal group of students, you can contact a local or national union of students, or another established organisation and ask for their support. “ says Francesca Bragagnolo, Project Manager, ESU.

Unfortunately, we are still confronted with uneven progress made by European governments and education systems, and perhaps an even more polarized public discourse regarding refugees and migrants.  As an organisation fighting for quality education for all, we continue our efforts to promote viable options for refugees and asylum seekers to access education, and be part of our communities.

With this programme, ESU wants to inspire change and:

• Reshape public discourse around forced migration and confront hate speech in our societies
• Inspire student-led initiatives addressing refugees’ and asylum seekers’ living conditions and not least their access to education
• Build capacity for student representatives to be more responsive to issues related to forced migration, focusing on social inclusion and access to education
• Empower National Student Unions to promote and advocate for clear policies that ease the access of refugees and asylum seekers to Higher Education
• Open up to new student groups and other stakeholders active on refugee issues, especially education
• Build long-lasting links between refugees, their communities, and student communities

ESU kicked off this programme in the winter of 2016. Since then, the organisation supported several valuable projects, shared views with resourceful activists and creative change-makers.

For more information, please check out our project webpage.

Stay tuned on:

Facebook: @Europeanstudents

Twitter: @ESU4Refugees