Greece: Road to Adulthood project

The project Road to Adulthood – Mentorship Helping Migrant and Refugee Unaccompanied Minors Navigate Adulthood supported unaccompanied children and young people - former unaccompanied minors (UAMs) - in their transition towards adulthood and integration in Europe.

The project was implemented by 4 organisations: ARSIS in Greece, Defence for Children International in Italy, Punt de Referencia in Spain and the European Network for Evidence-Based Mentoring in the Netherlands. This article presents the project from the perspective of Greek NGO ARSIS.

Project Goal

The project took under consideration the strengths, skills and resources of the children and young people participating and adapted all necessary tools to promote resilience and mitigate vulnerability factors. In doing so it was able to provide affectionate support, establish high expectations, offer meaningful opportunities, enrich social bonds with clear limits and promote the development of life skills.

Within this, the specific goals of the project can be summarised as:

• promoting the exchange of good practices and tools that support children’s transition to adulthood;
• development and dissemination of a mentoring methodology capable of being applied at the European level;
• raising awareness at national and European level concerning unaccompanied children, highlighting the importance of social inclusion in their path towards self-determination.

How it works

Greek partner ARSIS has been implementing mentoring programmes since 2018, with various organisations, in the cities of Ioannina and Thessaloniki. Building on this previous experience, within the framework of the RoAD project - and in cooperation with other project partners - ARSIS developed the mentoring methodology. 

During the implementation phase of the project, ARSIS carried out the following activities:

• focus groups with children and young people (aged 16 to 21) living in shelters, in order to address their needs and gather their suggestions. In those meetings, children and young people expressed how they think about their path to adulthood and how they imagine their relationship with their mentors
• mentor training courses were held, involving 32 citizens
• individual meetings with mentors and children and young people were held throughout the project
• meetings with the 'mentoring pairs' (mentor and child/young person) were held throughout the project
• open meetings for the public to share the experiences of both mentors and mentees, in order to highlight the importance of mentoring children as they grow up
• workshops for children and young people participating in the project on experiential rhythm and skills development
• developing partnerships with authorities and agencies and exchanging experiences and good practices, especially in similar programmes and actions

Who benefits

Direct beneficiaries of the programme were unaccompanied children and young people and citizens wishing to play the role of a social mentor. Through the tools created, professionals and social services wishing to develop similar actions benefit.

Funding and resources

The project was funded by the European Commission through the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund. In Greece the project was co-funded by German Doctors.