ICEX third partner - Estonian Refugee Council
Estonian Refugee Council (ERC) is an international humanitarian assistance non-profit organisation operating in six countries: Estonia, Ukraine, Armenia, Georgia, Jordan and Turkey. ERC provides assistance to refugees and displaced people, including humanitarian aid, various support services, mental health and community activities. In addition, currently, in Estonia, we carry out educational projects to raise awareness about refugee issues and integration amongst the general public and youth. We also offer support and tools to professionals assisting migrants in different fields.
The activities and aims of the ICEX project match well with ERC’s different activity tracks and objectives. First, one of our main activities in Estonia is to share relevant information amongst refugees coming to Estonia in the formats of counselling, trainings and materials. The activities and outcomes of the project allow us to work towards increasing knowledge about the important yet often not foregrounded topic of sexual health amongst the refugee populations and different migrant groups residing in Estonia. Furthermore, the project’s second focus of improving the skills of professionals to tackle the issue of sexual health amongst migrants is compatible with our mission to offer skills and support to professionals. The feedback from professionals participating in the focus group interviews has so far been positive. According to them, both trainings and materials about sexual health are crucial and needed in their everyday practice with refugees and migrants to work towards sexual health awareness.
ERC is responsible for carrying out all the project activities in Estonia, including conducting research, co-developing the framework and materials, and piloting amongst professionals and migrants. In addition, ERC is leading the overall communication of the project throughout the project period. In 2023 during the first project phase, we conducted focus group interviews amongst the Ukrainian refugee population in Estonia. We also held focus groups with professionals with a variety of backgrounds coming into contact with migrants, including social workers, teachers and doctors.
The ERC team:
Olivia Jõgi is an internal communications officer at ERC. In the framework of ICEX, she is responsible for the overall communication of the project.
Mirjam Rennit is an Education and Awareness programme officer at ERC. In the framework of ICEX, she is responsible for carrying out all the project activities in Estonia.