EU qualifications 'passports' program now includes Armenia, Canada

PanARMENIAN.Net - A Council of Europe project to help refugees have their qualifications recognised abroad was extended to include more countries, such as Armenia and Canada, on Wednesday, March 28.

"An important step in this second phase is to convince ministries of education in each country of the validity of this passport and to open their doors to refugees," said Xenia Passa, a United Nations humanitarian agency representative in Greece.

Following a successful pilot project in 2017, which was supported by UNHCR in Greece, the Council of Europe is launching the new phase (2018-2020) of the European Qualifications Passport for Refugees: a capacity-building project aiming at assessing refugees’ education level, work experience and language proficiency in absence of full documentation thanks to a tested methodology.

The European Qualifications Passport for Refugees describes the qualifications in a format that should facilitate the use of the assessment both within and beyond the refugees’ host country. Therefore, if refugees move to another country in Europe their qualifications do not need to be assessed again.

France, Germany and the Netherlands will also participate in the second phase of the three-year project, joining Greece, Norway, Italy and the United Kingdom from the first phase.

The “passport”, however, does not guarantee admission to studies or employment. Neither is it a formal recognition act. The methodology being piloted is intended to help refugees to progress in their studies or employment, the Council of Europe explained in a special doc.