The project "FUTURA - Fostering the Transition of Unaccompanied Children to Adulthood" of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) Hellas, which will end in August 2023, closed the cycle that opened in August 2019.
Athens, Greece, 5 July 2023 — On Tuesday 27 June 2023, International Rescue Committee (IRC) Hellas organised the closing event of the project "FUTURA - Fostering the Transition of Unaccompanied Children to Adulthood" at the cultural space T.A.F (The Art Foundation), Monastiraki, Athens.
The event was addressed by the Director of IRC Hellas Dimitra Kalogeropoulou, Aikaterini Sokka, Supervisor of the Unit of Management of Accommodation Requests and Relocation of the Special Secretariat for the Protection of Unaccompanied Minors (Ministry of Μigration and Asylum) and Epaminondas Farmakis, Director of “Asylum and Migration" and "Local Development and Poverty Reduction" EEA Grants programmes in Greece.
Furthermore, Alexia Papantoniou, Supervisor of IRC Hellas' Supported Independent Living (SIL) apartments, presented conclusions, good practices, challenges and ways of continuing alternative forms of care for children and other vulnerable groups among people on the move. She said:
“Since August 2019, through the "FUTURA" project, 82 unaccompanied children, boys and girls, from 16 to 18 years old, have been supported for their independence and their smooth transition into adulthood. The project offered safe accommodation in supported independent living (SIL) apartments, as they are considered an alternative form of care accommodation that promotes personalised support, fully aligned with the best interests of each child. Additionally, since August 2022, the project offered protection and empowerment services to 11 female asylum seekers and refugees (single-parent families) and 14 children in four apartments in Athens.”
Finally, Parwan*, one of the children who had lived in one of the FUTURA apartments and is now a young adult, shared his own perspective, how the project helped him and the difficulties he faced as an unaccompanied child in Greece:
"Because of a health issue I have had since I arrived in Greece, I needed constant monitoring, by the same doctor and specific treatment. Hara, my social worker in the apartment, helped me from the beginning to find the right doctor, so that I could make my own appointments and not treat it as a problem. The support in the flat from the whole team, my lawyer, the caretakers and my social worker helped me to see what I wanted for my life and work to make it happen.”
About the FUTURA project
FUTURA was implemented under the “Asylum and Migration” (Addressing urgent needs for the reception and screening of asylum seekers and for the accommodation of vulnerable groups) programme funded by the European Economic Area (EEA Grants).
The “Asylum and Migration” (Addressing urgent needs for the reception and screening of asylum seekers and for the accommodation of vulnerable groups) programme in Greece, financed by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, was awarded a total budget of 16,5 million euros as part of the EEA Grants 2014-2021. The programme aspires to contribute to ensuring legal protection, support and care for the most vulnerable asylum seekers, with emphasis on unaccompanied children. The Fund Operator for the “Asylum and Migration” programme in Greece is SOL Crowe in partnership with HumanRights360. More information.