This is a lovely story from the UNHCR Turkey team. This reinforces what I have been doing with my Family Link Up project. Family Link Up
I had put forward to the UNHCR legal team in London that we should create a database of CVs to see what skills and expertise where among the refugees to help host countries. It is really quite a good exercise to sit with the refugees to build a CV not only have they done a lot before the war, but when you perform a skills and experience analysis on the time of the war and fleeing... there is in fact a lot to add to the CV. I did this with Dante in Turkey and could show how much he had done in the time he felt was dead space in his life. Everything from first aid and rescue work, to unofficial social work, counselling one another, helping other refugees with hospital appointments, learning the host country language, creative writing and journalism..are some of his achievements - and include having a poem published in the Brunel University Literary Festival, writing reports that I have been able to present to our parliament too...
So love this story from the facebook newsfeed today. Well done Khaled and the teams....
{Khaled worked as a pharmacist in Hama and Idlib provinces in Syria for 3-4 years before he decided to flee to Turkey in the beginning of 2016. He states that he sought refuge in Turkey as he was not able to bear the circumstances of the war anymore.Khaled did not begin the job hunting immediately, as he lacked Turkish language skills.
After hearing about the Turkish language courses and the livelihood trainings, he attended the transferrable skills courses including the CV writing workshop and the monitoring and evaluation training and certified Turkish courses offered by the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) in partnership with UNHCR with the funding received from the European Union (EU). Although Khaled underlines the significance of Turkish language skills for Syrian refugees residing in Turkey, he believes that in particular the CV writing workshop and M&E training have been immensely helpful for improving his chances of getting a job. He states:
“Following the trainings, I was able to write my CV in an accurate way. Now, I learnt to highlight my educational background and professional experience in a way to capture the attention of employers.”
After attending the trainings, Khaled entered in the non-profit sector by volunteering in DRC Turkiye برامج المجلس الدنماركي للاجئين في تركيا. Currently, he is employed by a different local NGO on a full-time basis, with a formal contract and social insurance, and he is happy with the salary he receives. Khaled would like to continue working in the humanitarian sector, yet his ultimate wish is to receive his undergraduate degree, and start working as a pharmacist.
“I am very happy with my new work but I do hope to return to my actual profession, I hope to be able to speak Turkish fluently and to become a pharmacist again.” He says with a smile:
“Anyone who gets work feels stronger.” And then, he adds: “And now maybe I can marry.”
This activity took place as part of the “Supporting the National Institutions in Turkey to Mitigate the Impact of Syrian Refugee Crisis” project. This project is co-financed by the European Union in Turkey and Turkey. It is coordinated by the Directorate General for Migration Management and implemented by UNHCR.
With the financial support from the EU, UNHCR and its partners are able to provide basic Turkish language courses, transferable skills and vocational trainings to the refugees in Turkey which enables them to pursue career opportunities in the local job markets.}
Photo: @DRC/Elif Işık
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