Private sector supporting refugees
Hassan from Syria at his workplace in Mercator-S company ©UNHCR Serbia
UNHCR engages with the private sector in Serbia to promote opportunities for education and employment of refugees and asylum seekers, as well as other prospects for their integration and better life quality.
Partnerships also help us strengthen involvement in community initiatives and promote positive approaches to integration and reducing xenophobia.
Support from private partners injects new and vital energy into finding responses to refugee needs. Some of the leading companies are already helping us maximize our impact and improve capacity to deliver sustainable solutions for refugees and displaced people.
In May 2021, IKEA SEE has initiated its „Skills for Employment“ project in Serbia, Croatia and Romania. It offers paid three-month internship to refugees and asylum seekers, in cooperation with UNHCR.
This is also the opportunity for them to showcase their talents and values, enhancing their skills, and for the company to benefit from their authentic knowledge and experiences, as well as valuable perspectives and diversity they bring.
After the project’s first cycle, 16 refugees and asylum seekers have been employed in Serbia, in departments ranging from design to logistics.
IKEA has also made generous product donations for refugees across Serbia, including the furnishing of Vranje Asylum Centre and Home for Children without Parental Care „Jovan Jovanović Zmaj“, which significantly contribute to the quality of their everyday lives.
UNHCR and IKEA Serbia have launched #ForRefugees network of companies, consisted of private sector stakeholders open to supporting refugees in Serbia: Mercator-S, Inditex, Women on the Way, French-Serbian Chamber of Commerce, Modulor, Qonnexa, Impact Hub Belgrade and Mona Hospitality Management, German-Serbian Chamber of Commerce, Infostud, Irish-Serbian Chamber of Commerce.
Find out more on IKEA’s engagement, as well as social and economic integration of refugees, in this article
As guests from all parts of the world are welcome in Mona Plaza, the same goes for their employees. Mona Hospitality Management is offering sound employment opportunities for refugees and asylum seekers wishing to establish and further careers in hotels and tourism industry.
Currently, hotels Mona Plaza and Argo in Belgrade, hotel Zlatibor Mona in Zlatibor and hotel Javor in Kušići are a part of Mona Hospitality Management company.
Mona Hospitality Management has been awarded with the Green Key and the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism certificates, as a proof of its socially responsible component.
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Serbia and IKEA Serbia have launched #ForRefugees private sector network to mobilize the support network of socially responsible companies for persons who were forced to flee their homes and are building their lives from scratch in Serbia.
Why UNHCR?
Find out more on how UNHCR Serbia supports durable solutions for refugees at this link. You may also want to read some of the human interest stories on how it feels to find safety and new home, as well as how UNHCR and partners help safeguard the well-being of people who were forced to flee.
UNHCR prepares and distributes #SupportingRefugees newsletter, aimed at the private sector, which brings quarterly news on the most urgent needs of displaced persons, private sector’s support for refugees, as well as refugees’ support to companies.
You can subscribe for #SupportingRefugees newsletter at this link.
If you are interested in exploring a partnership with UNHCR Serbia or would like to donate as a company or foundation, please contact us at: [email protected].