#RefugeesMigrants. At work for a change of pace

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Why this title

Migrants, refugees and displaced people are again at the center of AVSI's Tents campaign. Thanks to its network of supporters in Italy and abroad, this year's campaign will promote awareness through fundraising events to support eight different projects in Africa, the Middle East and Italy. The main goal is to support people forced to leave their homes.

At work for a change of pace: the title contains a double appeal and a double ideal. The appeal that all of us "roll up our sleeves" and once again focus on "work", one of the cornerstones of AVSI's commitment in the thirty countries where it operates. And the ultimate ideal is precisely a "change of pace": let's get to work and promote work so that those forced to flee away may one day be able to return home, and all of us be willing to change our way of considering this historical forced migration process whose size makes it so radical and unprecedented.

1. Ivory Coast. Master craftsmen

Project Goal To promote vocational training of craftsmen and improve their living conditions, with particular attention to people living with AIDS.
Activities / To organize information and awareness seminars for those involved / To identify and strengthen 20 national NGOs in view of their participation in the planned activities / To create 5 Information Points for artisans at regional level / To provide work materials to 300 ill-equipped workshops in order to improve their productivity / To create 200 savings and micro-credit groups / To support 3,500 children of artisans and promote their access to quality education services
Beneficiaries 50,000 (5.000 craftsmen and their families)
Fundraising objective 110,000 EUR
Donors with AVSI The European Union

2. Syria. Open Hospitals

Project Goal To strengthen some not-for-profit private hospitals in order to provide medical care to the poorest
Activities / The hospitals involved will be provided with new medical equipment to replace the obsolete or damaged one / Training in health management for hospital staff / Creation of a woman health center in a Damascus hospital focused on cancer prevention activities, representing the first experience of this kind in the Syrian context.
Beneficiaries all persons recognized in need of immediate care
Fundraising objective 50,000 EUR

3. Burundi. No more violence

Project Goal To assist and support women victims of violence and to prevent domestic violence
Activities / To train 44 teachers and 82 social workers on community awareness techniques / To create 88 "Stop Gender Based Violence" vigilance committees in 88 schools / To provide psychosocial support to 7,200 victims of violence and pay medical expenses for 1,500 / To ensure accommodation to 900 victims of violence / To ensure legal assistance to 1,200 victims of violence
Beneficiaries 25,500 (110 religious leaders, 82 social workers, 88 committees, 88 managers, 311 teachers, 17,600 students, 7,200 women)
Fundraising objective 100,000 EUR
Partners (AFEV) Bishops' Conference Justice and Peace (CEJP), Association of women jurists of Burundi (AFJB), Association for vulnerable children (AFEV)
Donors with AVSI The European Union

4. Ukraine. With war orphans

Project Goal To help orphans and families overcome the separation and fear generated in emergency situations
Activities / Material support to some families of refugees / Psychological support to some war traumatized families and children / Socialization activities aimed at healing the wounds of war / Cultural activities aimed at promoting awareness of the history of their country and of the European context
Beneficiaries 2,000 (500 children and their families)
Fundraising Objective 50,000 EUR
Donors with AVSI Foundation Children of hope and love of Kiev, NGO Emmaus of Kharkiv

5. Kenya. Vocational Training Schools

Project Goal To train youth with in-demand marketable skills
Activities / Classes in mechanics, electricity, carpentry, plumbing, computers, secretarial work, hair salon, mathematics and English at St. Kizito Vocational Training Institute / guidance services for employment and possible return of refugees to their country of origin.
People involved 1,000 (150 young refugees from South Sudan and Somalia and their families)
Fundraising objective 50,000 EUR
Partner St. Kizito Vocational Training Institute

6. Lebanon and Jordan. The educational challenge

Project Goal: Education and protection of vulnerable people of different ages hit by the Middle East crisis
Activities / Formal and informal education to bring back to school 38,000 Syrian children, refugees in Lebanon and Jordan / Vocational training and education in 7 Agricultural Schools in Lebanon / Emergency activities in support of 200 families and 450 children in Jordan by organizing informal education activities, supply of services for refugees and poor families, psychosocial support.
Beneficiaries 35,000 (7,000 children and their families)
Fundraising Objective: 740,000 EUR
Donors with AVSI Madad fund allocated to the emergency in Syria by the European Union; Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation

7. Italy. Prompt acceptance

Project Goal To support the Hub as a place of welcome and guidance for refugees in transit in Milan, with particular attention to women, children and unaccompanied minors
Activities Mobile control of the area ranging from Porta Venezia to the Central Station / Welcoming, feeding and registration in the HUB offices (with computer stations and play area) / Healthcare / Transfer to city shelters.
Beneficiaries 20,000
Fundraising objective 50,000 EUR
Partners Progetto Arca Foundation

8. Italy. Employment grants

Project Goal To offer the possibility to learn a job in order to access to the labor market
Activities Evaluation and selection of candidates / Training through courses in catering, agriculture, clothing, hotel industry / Starting training internships and guidance / Assistance to access employment
Beneficiaries 60
Fundraising objective 50,000 EUR
Partner Caritas Ambrosiana