WOULD YOU LIKE TO MEET REFUGEES WHO LEARN UKRAINIAN?

WOULD YOU LIKE TO TALK TO THEM AND DISCUSS THEIR LIFE IN UKRAINE?

THEN WELCOME TO THE EVENT ON 18 JUNE 20101 IN THE LANGUAGE CENTRE INTENSIVE!

What: Ceremony of presentations of diplomas to a group of 22 refugee students who successfully graduated a course of the Ukrainian language.

There will be time for informal meeting and discussion with refugee students, to hear about the experience and perspectives for local integration in Ukraine, ask what prompted them to learn Ukrainian and how they are going to master the language of their host country.

The ceremony will be conducted in the framework of the EU-funded project “Local Integration of Refugees in Ukraine”, aimed at addressing the issues of employment, Ukrainian language studies, self-reliance, social and cultural induction of refugees.

Where: Language Centre Intensive, address: Kyiv.

When: 18 June, starting at 11 am (duration 1 hour)

Who is invited: media representative

The event will be opened by welcoming remarks by representatives of the Ministry of Education, State Committee for Nationalities and Religion, The UN Refugee Agency, Charitable Foundation Rokada and refugees.

Contact person: Anna Gordievska, The UN Refugee Agency (+380 44 288 9424, gordievs@unhcr.org) and Olena Barchuk (o.barchuk@rokada.org.ua)

Background information:

Refugees, people who flee their native countries due to the fear of persecution because of the race, nationality, belonging to a particular social group, political views or religious believes, are granted similar social and economic rights as nationals of Ukraine, once they are recognized by the government of Ukraine. Currently about 2,000 recognized refugees from over 40 countries reside in Ukraine. Refugees cannot go back to their native countries because the return can pose a threat to their life, often they come with no possessions, they had to leave everything behind. At the same time they bring the most valuable – their skills, knowledge and talents. Over the world there are success stories of refugees making careers in their countries of asylum and becoming outstanding professionals and businessmen, prominent public figures and artists, driving a social, cultural and economic development of the host country.

To learn more about refugees and local integration please visit www.unhcr.org.ua