The Camilo José Cela University (UCJC), UNHCR, UNICEF and the Three Cultures Foundation have signed this morning a collaboration agreement within the framework of the INTEGRA Project.
Madrid, 11 July 2016
This morning, the Three Cultures of the Mediterranean Foundation signed a collaboration agreement with the Camilo José Cela University, UNHCR and UNICEF to offer ten grants to refugees who wish to begin or resume their studies in Spain. The signing of the agreement, which took place at the UCJC Graduate School, was attended by José Manuel Cervera, Director of the Three Cultures of the Mediterranean Foundation, Sonsoles Escribano, UCJC Vice-Rector for Faculty, Ángel Escudero, member of the UNICEF Advisory Council, and Marta García, Head of the UNHCR Protection Unit in Spain.
"It is very important for the university to be a pioneer in this type of action and we are pleased to undertake initiatives that the administration does not reach," said Sonsoles Escribano, vice-rector of the UCJC, who indicated that the students will receive six months of training and will then be able to study the degree of their choice at the Camilo José Cela University, as long as the university itself offers this degree. José Manuel Cervera, director of the Fundación Tres Culturas del Mediterráneo, stressed that "this initiative is in line with our Foundation's ideals of promoting peace and coexistence between peoples".
Marta García, head of the UNHCR Protection Unit in Spain, stressed that "this project will give ten refugees the opportunity to continue or begin their studies and perhaps, at some point, they will be able to reintegrate into their society and return to their countries of origin in a state of security". Finally, Angel Escudero, a member of the UNICEF Advisory Board, said that "we have decided to support this project because I have seen first-hand the anguish suffered by these families, and I have realised how important it is to be close to them and to this project".
This initiative, which is part of the Integra Project, will consist of the development of a comprehensive and transversal training programme in different disciplines to help young refugees to achieve, in a solid and as complete a way as possible, a personal and social as well as academic integration in our country.
The programme will have a duration of 6 months, depending on the needs, characteristics and problems that the host group may have. The necessary requirements to join the Integra Project must be considered a refugee (or asylum seeker), be of legal age, have completed high school or equivalent, wish to pursue a university degree or higher education currently offered at the UCJC, and come from areas of conflict resulting from war or terrorism, regardless of their religion, nationality, political ideology and ethnicity.
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