R.E.A.L. project brings together 300 refugee leaders

Despite a multitude of positive practices, most refugee-led organizations have limited opportunities for exchange and capacity building, or to share experiences and network across different contexts. Due to this reason, NWC designed the project R.E.A.L., to strengthen the impact and effectiveness of these kind of initiatives in Europe. The main goal was to support further regional exchanges by organizing four sessions, which gathered around 300 persons.

The first meeting was focused on community leadership. A reflection activity unpacked the different characteristics of a good leader and uncovered the needs of a community. The second session was aimed to debate funding and fundraising journeys of the migrant and refugee communities. The last two meetings were focused on delivering a self-advocacy toolkit on how one can become an agent of change in their community, and what full and meaningful participation entails.

Participants fulfilled an evaluation in which they delivered messages such as “I have more self-belief, we just need to be more concentrated on our aims” or “today I became a little hopeful again”. Other statements pointed out the fact that thanks to the sessions, “I had the chance to meet people who fight for humanity and equal citizenship rights”.