37 scholarship-winning refugees arrived this morning at Fiumicino airport thanks to the UNICORE - University Corridors for Refugees project. And eight more students will arrive in the next few days.
Among them also a student who will be enrolled at the University of Cagliari, he at the master's degree in Computer Engineering, Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence, she at the master's degree in Chemical Engineering and Biotechnological Processes. The project for Cagliari is coordinated by the Vice Rector for Internationalization Alessandra Carucci, while the University of the Sardinian capital collaborates closely with the diocesan Caritas for the reception of children.
The University of Sassari, which is participating in the project for the second consecutive year, will instead host a student and an Eritrean student to attend the master's degree courses in Chemical Sciences. Last year the University welcomed three Eritrean students enrolled in the master's degree courses in Economics, Wildlife Management Conservation and Control and Planning and policies for the city, the environment and the landscape.
The initiative, which started in 2019, has so far seen the participation of 28 universities that collectively have made over 70 scholarships available in the last three years. The selection of students, carried out by the individual universities, was based on academic merit and motivation. The winners are refugees from Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Thanks to the project partners, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Caritas Italiana, Diaconia Valdese, Centro Astalli, Gandhi Charity, and a wide network of local partners, students will receive adequate support to complete studies and integrate into academic and social life.
Students will begin today the quarantine period made mandatory by the Covid-19 emergency, after which they will be able to start their university course at universities throughout the Italian territory.
"Refugees need not only to rebuild their lives in safety and dignity, but also to be able to best express their skills and competences to plan a prosperous future for themselves and for the communities that welcome them", Chiara's comment Cardoletti, UNHCR Representative for Italy, the Holy See and San Marino.
Enrollment of refugees in higher education globally is 5%, compared to an average of 38%: a dramatic figure that once again highlights the need to work to remove barriers to access to education.
By 2030, UNHCR aims to achieve an enrollment rate of 15% in higher education programs for refugees in host countries and third countries, including through the expansion of safe access routes such as corridors university students.
(Unioneonline / vl)
