UniTrento is one of the 32 Italian universities participating in the Unicore - University Corridors for Refugees project, which aims to give 61 refugees the opportunity to continue their academic studies in Italy. The students, who are currently refugees in Kenya, Niger, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, will be selected on the basis of merit and motivation, through a new call for applications.
Within the project, refugees have the opportunity to enter Italy legally and safely to continue their studies, in line with UNHCR's objective of strengthening entry channels and raising the enrollment rates of refugees in secondary education programmes above 15% in countries of first asylum and third countries. The project was launched in 2019 and so far has offered more than 180 scholarships.
"By joining the Unicore project, the University of Trento makes one step further in its commitment to equity and social justice and in particular to projects that aim to promote access to university education and the integration into the academic community of refugee students and scholars at risk under international protection, in the framework of the Inclusive University Manifesto, promoted by UNHCR, to which the university has been a member since 2019", commented Barbara Poggio, Vice-Rector for Equity and Diversity Policies at UniTrento.
"Unlike the Futura project, which welcomes young refugees who already are in Italy, the Unicore project is based on the establishment of humanitarian corridors from refugee camps located in different African countries, within a wide network of universities and in partnership with different organizations, including Astalli, Caritas and GrIS," she explained.
The project is made possible thanks to the collaboration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, UNHCR, Italian Caritas, Diaconia Valdese, Centro Astalli, Banca Etica and Gandhi Charity, as well as a wide network of local partners who will ensure the necessary support to students during the two-year master's degree programme and will encourage their participation in university life. At the end of the selection process, the students will begin their studies in Italy with Italian language courses that will be provided remotely by the Universities for Foreigners of Perugia and Siena and the University of Notre Dame.
The call will close on 19 May 2023. Information can be found in Italian and in English on the website.
More details:
https://www.unitn.it/equitadiversita/unicore
https://www.unitn.it/en/equitadiversita/unicore