Program duration: 01/09/2018 - 31/08/2021
EU-VET CARE: Strengthening capacities for better health care to refugee and migrant children
Prolepsis is a partner in the European project titled EU-VET CARE, “Strengthening capacities for better health care to refugee and migrant children”. EU-VET CARE is a three-year project (1/9/2018 – 31/8/2021) funded by the ERASMUS+ Programme of the European Union, which aims to design and implement innovative vocational training on the appropriate delivery of health-care for migrant/refugee children.
Since 2015 due to the Middle East crisis and poverty in many parts of the world, Europe has experienced increasing migrant and refugee flows. The arrival to Europe of large numbers of displaced people has challenged public health services.
Of particular concern is the fact that one out of three migrants/refugees reaching European countries is a child. More specifically, according to the updated Eurostat database, children’s applications for asylum between 2014 and 2018 reached 1,100,345 (Eurostat, 2018b). Migrant/refugee children are vulnerable at all stages of the journey and have specific health and social needs. Their experiences both in their country of origin, including extreme poverty, war and traumatic events and their migration journey, including traumatic experiences such as separation, sexual abuse and trafficking, significantly affect their health status. Conditions in the host country, like poor living conditions, lack of access to schooling, uncertain immigration status, social exclusion, acculturation issues, and racism/xenophobia can further negatively affect their physical and mental health. Migrant/refugee children are thus in a position of vulnerability due to physically exhaustion and psychological trauma. At the same time, evidence regarding provision and access to health care for this group is scarce due to inadequate understanding of the actual needs of migrant/refugee children so as to achieve more tailor-made interventions.
Having identified the gap in specialized training in this area, the EU-VET CARE project aims to design and implement innovative vocational training on the appropriate delivery of health-care for this population.
The EU-VET CARE consortium consists of 6 organizations from 5 countries: Germany, Spain, Italy Greece, and Cyprus.
Project coordinator
ETHNO-MEDIZINISCHES ZENTRUM EV (ΕΜΖ), Germany
Project partners
Prolepsis Institute, Greece
UNIVERSITAT DE VALENCIA (UVEG), Spain
ZADIG, Italy
The Cyprus University of Technology (CUT), Cyprus
Faros, Greece
Contact information
Dina Zota, MSc, PhD: d.zota@prolepsis.gr
Pania Karnaki, MA: p.karnaki@prolepsis.gr
Website: www.euvetcare.eu