HELIOS

The project

In close collaboration with national authorities and experienced partners, through the HELIOS project (Hellenic Integration Support for Beneficiaries of International Protection) IOM aims at promoting the integration of beneficiaries of international protection currently residing in temporary accommodation schemes into the Greek society, through the following components: 

• Integration Courses: conduction of Integration Courses within Integration Learning Centres set-up across Greece. Each course cycle lasts for 6 months and consists of modules on Greek language learning, cultural orientation, job readiness and life skills. 
• Accommodation support: supporting beneficiaries towards independent accommodation in apartments rented on their name, including by providing contributions to rental and move-in costs and networking with apartment owners. 
• Employability support: provision of individual employability and job readiness support, including through job counseling, access to job-related certifications and networking with private employers. 
• Integration monitoring: regular assessment of the integration progress of the beneficiaries to ensure that they will be in a position to confidently navigate through Greek public service providers once they will exit from the HELIOS project and start living independently in Greece. 
• Sensitization of the host community: organization of workshops, activities and events and production of a nationwide media campaign to create exchange occasions between the hosting and the hosted communities, highlighting the value of the integration of migrants into the Greek society. 

Beneficiaries enrolled in the HELIOS project have the opportunity to benefit from employability support in order to become familiar with the Greek labor market and job research modalities and, in parallel, acquire increased awareness of their professional profile. In this framework, HELIOS beneficiaries are offered five structured individual job counselling sessions of a duration of approximately one hour each with job counsellors who help them develop a career plan by assessing their interests and abilities and by guiding them through resources on career information and job search. Upon need, beneficiaries are also informed on the possibilities available to them so as to widen their educational profile. The individual job counselling sessions take place in the Integration Learning Centers and are mandatory in order to benefit from further employability-related activities. As a matter of fact, beneficiaries with relevant education and/or experience have the opportunity to access official certifications (e.g. professional driving licenses, ECDL certifications, foreign language certifications) in order to increase their employment potential. Any costs related to the official certifications and to any other documentation needed for employability purposes (e.g. official translation of documents, urgent medical exams) are covered by the HELIOS project upon assessment of HELIOS staff. The eligibility of each beneficiary is assessed in the job counselling sessions, the attendance of which is a prerequisite in order to have access to this service. In addition to the five individual sessions, beneficiaries refer to the job counsellors in order to receive support for a variety of other reasons, e.g. applying/renewing of their unemployment card, preparing for an interview etc. Also, before the enforcement of Covid-19 measures, job counsellors were organizing Focus Group Discussions with beneficiaries and in most Integration Learning Centers weekly scheduled Job Clubs were aiming to support the beneficiaries with job searching techniques and encourage the peer to peer assistance. 

In order to benefit from employability-related activities, beneficiaries must be enrolled in HELIOS by having signed the Declaration of Participation and regularly attend the integration courses or have been exempted from mandatory attendance. Additionally, HELIOS project is liaising with private sector for employment opportunities for refugees. In this frame HELIOS has been organizing several employability events where beneficiaries have the chance to meet with potential employers, learn about the nature of available work opportunities and address questions to them with regards to contract terms, working conditions etc. Moreover, virtual events have also been organized due to Covid-19 restrictions. Also, the HELIOS project in cooperation with the Ministry of Migration and Asylum and the support of the Ministry of Rural Development and Food realized a series of e-meetings aiming to introduce the refugee population to different local Agro-Cooperatives and explore further with them the possibility of covering their seasonal needs with workers referred by the project. 

The impact of the good practice

Beneficiaries are supported to transit from the Greek Reception System to independent living and become a part of the hosting society through skills development and enhancement.