The WISE project, funded by the ESF+ Social Innovation + Initiative, integrates mental health and psychosocial support with employment services enabled by technology-driven solutions to improve the socio-economic inclusion and wellbeing of employable refugee women from Ukraine in Italy and Bulgaria. By piloting and scaling-up Holistic Support Centres with a trauma-informed and gender-sensitive approach, the project aims to enhance Ukrainian women’s employability, skills-job match, lifelong learning and access to the labour market, enable them to better navigate and access social and public services, and enhance their mental and psychosocial well-being.
Objectives
The overall goal of the WISE project is to improve the socio-economic inclusion of employable refugee women from Ukraine, in Italy and Bulgaria. The project pursues four specific objecitves:
▪️Providing agency, skills, and knowledge to access and progress within the host countries' labour market, as well as supporting potential reintegration into Ukraine’s labour market upon voluntary return
▪️Facilitating better navigation and access to social and public services, including childcare, while overcoming legal and bureaucratic barriers.
▪️Enhancing mental health, psychosocial well-being, social connections, and empowerment to make informed decisions about their future.
▪️Raising awareness among key stakeholders at local and EU levels, promoting the adoption of the Holistic Support Centre model to further socio-economic inclusion for refugee women.
Resources and activities
▪️WISE Factsheet and stories of change
Approach and methodology
Dual Intent: The project pays particular attention to women affected by the waiting dilemma, helping them overcome their concerns and seize opportunities for professional growth that may be relevant to Ukraine when and if they decide to return.
Existing methodology: WISE builds on the existing Women and Girls Safe Space model that applies a traumainformed and gender-sensitive approach to mental health and psychosocial support.
One-Stop-Shop model: The new holistic model complements mental health and psychosocial support with employment support services adapted to the needs of the target population.
Scaling-up social innovation: this social innovation model will be further developed through an iterative process, piloted, validated, and disseminated for adaptation to new contexts. Communication and dissemination activities will adopt a multi-stakeholder and a user-centred approach to replicate the model at the local and European level.
Key Information
Project Duration: April 2025 - October 2026
Lead Organization: International Rescue Committee Italia (IRC Italia)
Partner organizations: Animus Association, Centro PENC Antropologia e Psicologia Geoclinica, Association Européenne des Régions et autorités locales pour la formation toute au long de la vie (EARLALL), Laboratorio di Gruppoanalisi, SkillLab.
Target Population: Employable refugee women, displaced from Ukraine after February 2022, and their dependents. WISE aims to reach 200 Ukrainian refugee women in the four Holistic Support Centers. Implementation sites: Sofia (Bulgaria), Milan, Rome, Turin (Italy).
Implementation sites: Sofia (Bulgaria), Milan, Rome, Turin (Italy).
Core Components and activities
▪️Individualized case management support
▪️Personalized job counselling
▪️Career orientation about viable career pathways and job opportunities
▪️Information and referrals to education providers for upskilling or reskilling paths
▪️Cultural orientation: job readiness and information sessions on the host country’s system
▪️Structured and recreational Group Activities for social support
▪️Women Rise group sessions: psychosocial empowerment with a gender transformative approach
▪️Speaking clubs in host country language
▪️Mental health services
▪️Personalized skills assessments using an AI-powered digital tool
▪️Activities in Ukranian and local languages, with cultural mediation and childcare support
▪️Outreach to at least 2,000 stakeholders across Europe, a final conference in Brussels, four local stakeholder workshops, webinars with policymakers and other stakeholders for dissemination.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Social Fund Agency. Neither the European Union nor the Granting Authority can be held responsible for them.
