Photo: ©UNHCR / Germana Lavagna
The first concern most refugees have after reaching a safe country is to find a job as a fundamental step towards rebuilding their future in dignity. For refugees in Italy however, accessing the job market or having their skills recognized appropriately has proven to be very difficult.
To address these issues, UNHCR in Italy has been working on refugee inclusion in the job market since 2016 through a series of initiatives such as Welcome – Working for refugee integration, adopting a whole of society approach that includes the private sector, national institutions, local authorities, foundations, business and labor organizations, cities, the third sector and many other networks in line with the Global Compact on refugees.
“Job inclusion is not only the key to self -sufficiency,” says Chiara Cardolettti, UNHCR Representative to Italy, the Holy See and San Marino “refugees themselves have been telling us how lack of access to qualified employment is proving to be the greatest obstacle to their integration in the country”.
With this in mind, in June 2022 UNHCR in Italy launched an innovative partnership with Assolavoro, the national Association of employment agencies.
Assolavoro signed a landmark agreement with three trade unions to allocate €45 million to promote the inclusion of refugees in the workforce. The measures will include language courses, vocational training, skills assessment, private accommodation support, child-care contributions, psychological care, and support for education. Thanks to the cooperation with UNHCR, a multilingual website in Italian, French, English and Ukrainian, was developed to provide the starting point for refugees to be informed of all the opportunities available.
“The synergy between different actors can have a strong positive impact for everyone, refugees and the entire economy. Together we are proving what UNHCR has been convinced of all along: that the skills and professionalism refugees bring with them can represent an added value for businesses operating in Italy.” continues Chiara Cardolettti.
The project also includes financial support for those workers who are hosting refugees or beneficiaries of temporary protection for up to three months. This measure is thought to benefit specifically those workers hosting the influx of persons fleeing from Ukraine. Italy had the largest population of Ukrainian residents in Europe before the conflict and has seen an influx of over 140,000 persons since February 24th, many intending to reunite with relatives or friends.
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