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A satisfaction evaluation of the support measures provided to persons under international protection has been carried out

Ievietots: 29.01.2019

Since 2 January 2018 the Society “Shelter “Safe House”” has been implementing the project “Support Activities for Persons Under International Protection”, the purpose of which is to promote the inclusion of persons under international protection in the society by providing training courses and adapted information about rights and duties in different areas of life. In order to ensure feedback for the improvement of training courses and training programmes, SIA “Weitner” has prepared a satisfaction evaluation of the training courses by their participants about the activities implemented within the project last year, in 2018.

It has been concluded that a positive impact of the activities within the project is observed in the long term – the direct target group has been informed about the most important matters of starting life in Latvia. The satisfaction evaluation of participants of the training courses for persons under international protection was organised in the form of group discussions, preparing a report with conclusions and proposals.

It has been concluded in the evaluation that the participation of the training course for learning Latvian are generally satisfied with the course. It was indicated that the persons under international protection, who are accommodated in CAS “Mucenieki”, would be interested to use their time more actively and to learn Latvian longer. At the same time, participants of the course emphasise that the benefit from the training is high, taking into account that the courses started without preliminary knowledge, but after their conclusion they may communicate in shops or also communicate with employees of CAS “Mucenieki”. In addition to knowledge, training courses for learning Latvian also provide persons under international protection with social benefits – reduce tension, organise their day, create additional motivation. The groups with almost equal levels of language and preparedness has better learning outcomes.

Overall, 71 persons visited courses of Latvian last year, 60 of which have received certificates about completion of the course. 14 persons from 6 different countries attended the training within one group on average. The attendees of the course of Latvian were from 22 countries: Russia – 17, Iraq – 13, Eritrea – 7, Egypt – 6, Georgia – 4, Azerbaijan – 3, Turkey – 3, Bangladesh – 3, Afghanistan – 2, Belarus – 1, Gaza – 1, Israel – 1, Cameroon – 1, Kazakhstan – 1, Kyrgyzstan – 1, Congo – 1, Libya – 1, Nigeria – 1, Pakistan – 1, Syria – 1, Sudan – 1, Ukraine – 1. 

When evaluating the scope and topics of the integration training course on Latvia, it has been concluded that they are sufficient to provide a general insight into the most important matters related to life in Latvia. It has been concluded that this target group was generally satisfied with the training content, process and quality. The organisation of the integration training course outside the premises of CAS “Mucenieki” – in the centre of Riga, is an additional motivating factor to participate in the training.

Six groups (90 persons) listened to the integration training course about Latvia last year, 77 of whom were issued certificates about listening to the course. One group included 15 participants on average. Most (79%) of course participants were adults, also 19 children participated in the training. Overall the course attendees included persons under international protection from 22 countries: Russia – 20, Iraq – 14, Azerbaijan – 8, Egypt – 8, Eritrea – 7, Georgia – 7, Afghanistan – 5, Turkey – 4, Uzbekistan – 4, Georgia – 4, Bangladesh – 2, Pakistan – 2, Syria – 2, Gaza – 1, Cameroon – 1, Kazakhstan – 1, Kyrgyzstan – 1, Congo – 1, Libya – 1, Nigeria – 1, Sudan – 1, Tajikistan – 1, Ukraine – 1.

Integration courses provide an opportunity to their participants to acquire knowledge about Latvia, its state system, history, culture and traditions, practical information about Latvia, information about integration into the society, non-discrimination principles, communication, religious and cultural differences, housing market, employment options, education system and opportunities to obtain education. Participants can also learn about spending their leisure time, the health care system, social security network and social assistance system in Latvia.  In order to ensure high quality communication with participants of the training groups, translators and language specialists with knowledge of Dari, Turkish, Tigrinya, Arabic, Urdu, Georgian, French, Bengali, Spanish, Tamil were invited from the Information Centre for Newcomers. English and Russian were used as intermediate languages.

Last year, the Society “Shelter “Safe House”” developed a mobile application about life in Latvia “First steps in Latvia”. The app is available in Google Play and App Store in Latvian, English, French, Dari and Arabic for free. It has been concluded in the evaluation by SIA “Weitner” that the mobile app is a good tool, recommending to integrate the app more in the training course. A recommendation has been provided to continue to create easy to find and qualitative information content on the internet, which is an important source of information for persons under international protection. The planned development of the app in Russia this year is evaluated positively.

Until 30 June 2020 support under the Support Actions for Persons under International Protection II project will be provided to 500 persons, among them adults, children, and illiterate asylum seekers.

The Support Actions for Persons under International Protection II project is implemented with the support from the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund and co-financed by the European Union. Grant Agreement No. PMIF/9/2017/2/01/

Information was prepared by: Rasa Salina (Rasa Saliņa), Multimedia Communications Specialist, phone 22026355, e-mail: rasa.salina@patverums-dm.lv