May 31, 2022 | REACT
Yesterday we launched the 26th edition of our REACT program.
The inauguration took place in the locality of El Albir in Alfaz del Pi, Alicante, Spain. The session began with opening remarks by Ms. Martine Mertens, who welcomed all attendees on behalf of the Alfaz del Pi City Council. Subsequently, the President of Helsinki España, Ms. Maria Jaen, took the floor and officially announced the beginning of the program. On behalf of the entire Helsinki España team, she welcomed all guests and expressed special appreciation towards Under-Secretary for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, whose presence, she kindly remarked, made the launch of this year’s edition “my most special opening to date”. Ms Martine Mertens then introduced and gave the floor to USG Lacroix.
“In the face of contemporary challenges, all of us working on conflict prevention, crisis management, peacekeeping and peacebuilding should strive to nurture our skills, share lessons learned, and foster new partnerships. This is why programs like REACT are so important and why all of us in the Department of Peace Operations welcome the opportunity to partner with Helsinki España,” said Under-Secretary General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix. At the end of his address, he addressed this year’s participants: “Mindset and motivation – these are critical elements for success in peace missions”, he added. “I hope that many of you will serve in our missions.”
REACT is Helsinki España’s flagship international peacebuilding program: a comprehensive 220h in-person training on Conflict Prevention, Crisis Management, and post-Conflict Rehabilitation. It was launched in 2003 by proposal from Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation with support from the OSCE and the United Nations, with the aim of equipping selected professionals with the skills and competencies required to deploy in international peace operations. This year’s edition will last from May 30th to July 1st, with its first four weeks taking place in Alicante.
What makes this month-long program unique, besides being imparted by high-profile experts and trainers from international and public institutions – including numerous UN agencies; the OSCE, EU, NATO, and ICRC; and Spain’s ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs – is that it represents an opportunity for both career development as well as career transition and is the only training program of its kind that takes place in Spain. The 2022 cohort includes students from 11 different nationalities: from Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and the United States; to Cameroon, Nigeria, Syria, and India, among others.
Over the past 19 years, Helsinki España has successfully organized 25 REACT editions, training over 500 professionals from 70+ countries (including during COVID-19). Attesting to the success of the program, today REACT alumni (the majority of whom are women) are deployed in 85+ countries; operate virtually within all sectors (public, private, NGO) and at all levels (from entry-level to senior management); and represent one of Spain’s main contributions to human-centred international peace and security efforts. Together with Helsinki España staff, diplomatic corps, local authorities, and media, some alumni had come from as far as Nigeria and India to attend the inauguration of the program with USG Lacroix.
USG Lacroix arrived in Spain on Sunday May 29th – on the date the UN commemorates the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers to recognize the service and sacrifice of the more than one million personnel who have served under the blue flag since 1948, and to honour the memory of those peacekeepers who have lost their lives in the cause of peace.
This year, the United Nations will mark the occasion under the theme People Peace Progress: The Power of Partnerships to highlight the importance of partnerships – with Member States, local communities, regional organizations, NGOs and civil society, and within the UN system – in building and sustaining peace and achieving peacekeeping mandates.
Candidates interested in participating in REACT 2023 can already submit their applications. For more information about the program, visit its official profile on ReliefWeb.
Apr 1, 2022 | Embrace a Ukrainian family, Initiatives
This week has been very productive for us and the family. We have kept in close communication with them, telling us that they feel very welcome in Spain and that they are already getting used to life here. They are encouraged to take walks and visit nearby places, as well as even interact with Spaniards, as Anna and Sofía had told us, who had been able to start conversations with girls of their ages.
In addition, on this occasion on Monday, April 28, we have taken the opportunity to manage the transport card with the aim that they can move and move around Madrid freely, running all expenses at our expense.
One of the ladies who collaborates with us has been able to get two computers so that both Anna and Sofía can stay better connected with their surroundings, as well as continue studying both at the school where the small online route used to go before, and so that they can little little by little learn Spanish. We are very grateful because we believe that today having the necessary technological means is essential and essential.
On the other hand, between Tuesday and Wednesday we have accompanied Tania, the mother, to see the two jobs with which she already has the objective that next week, when she starts working, she can feel Safer. She is very excited and eager to rebuild her life as normally as possible.
And, finally, today, Friday, April 1, our entire Team has gathered in the new home that they have given us as a donation for 5 months with the aim of being able to guarantee maximum comfort for the Kishka family. Likewise, we have contracted an internet line to enable constant communication with your loved ones, something that we also consider essential..
Once again we would like to thank two families who have kindly offered to move both the family and all their belongings to their new home, as well as all those people who are helping us in this campaign, making it possible for this project to continue to flourish and facilitate the greatest possible integration of this family in our country.
We are informing you of news!
Mar 23, 2022 | Embrace a Ukrainian family, Initiatives
With the aim of giving the initiative greater visibility, we have taken the opportunity to mobilize the campaign on our social networks by creating a dissemination brochure that included not only our bank account number for monetary donations, but also a QR code so that Anyone who would like to collaborate could join our WhatsApp group, which has been specially created with the aim of covering other needs that the family may present, coordinating the demand with its participants.
In this context, Helsinki Spain, being transparent at all times, has reported through the WhatsApp group that the family needed certain hygiene products, as well as clothing, so anyone who could collaborate did so through monetary donations, raising €455, clothing donations and a big purchase in a store, hitting everything! When the family arrived at our office on Friday, March 18, to then go shopping, we focused on their needs, insisting that they be honest and comfortable with expressing what they needed, without experiencing any rush.
Being operational, we have made an appointment on March 28 at a transport office with the aim of providing the family with total mobility around Madrid and, likewise, we have requested an appointment on April 4 to process the registration of the four. In this way, the next step would be to apply for medical cards at a community health center.
On the other hand, and following the desire of Tatiana, the mother, to work, we have found some jobs for her as cleaning staff. We have spoken with the people who facilitate them for the week of March 28 to April 1 to go with the mother to show her where the houses where she is going to work are and help her the first day with the language so that the next time feel more secure.
Mar 18, 2022 | Embrace a Ukrainian family, Initiatives
We present the Kishka family, they come from Chervonograd, a region in western Ukraine, and they are Larisa (the grandmother), Tatiana (the mother) and Anna and Sofia (their daughters). They were forced to flee the country considering that the Russian offensive in the region was increasing and it was not safe to continue there. Tatiana’s husband is a military man, so he has been forced to stay, the separation being very hard
They arrived in Madrid on the night of Saturday, February 26, and received support from a well-known family living here, but considering that they could not support them, they came to us.
The next day we met them at the home that a lady gave us, where they were going to reside for a first period of time. We were aware that the situation made it impossible to have many belongings, so we mobilized our extensive network of contacts who acted in solidarity to donate clothing, food and essential products.
Thanks to the fact that Virginia, a lawyer from the Madrid Bar Association, came into contact with us, we were able to process the documentation at the center set up in Pozuelo for this on Tuesday, March 15. They were exhausting hours, especially for the family, because neither Virginia nor the staff of our Association who know Ukrainian let us pass with them. However, finally the wait was worth it because we left the place happy to have obtained the International Protection agreed by the Government of Spain.
In addition, prior to this, on Monday, March 14, we held a meeting with all our Team together with the family, Virginia and Luis, a Russian-speaking man who has shown his desire to help in relation to the family’s integration into Spanish society. In this meeting they talked about the future plans of the family and how they saw their residence in Spain. While the mother told us that she would like to start a new life here and find a job, 14-year-old Anna agreed that it would be difficult for her to join a public center in Madrid in order to maintain her schooling; however, little by little she has become more open to it, and Sofía, 18, confessed that she is awaiting the announcements from the university where she studies Physical Education in order to resume her studies online.
We thank all those people who are making this possible because only thanks to them can we help this family.
We will inform you shortly of how the processing of the transport card, registration, health card, schooling, search for permanent accommodation, as well as job search for Tatiana continues.
Mar 4, 2022 | Embrace a Ukrainian family, Initiatives
The crisis in Ukraine that arose as a result of the Russian invasion has caused a wave of refugees to countries such as Poland or Romania, which together have come together to give shelter to families who have been forced to leave their homes, some hoping to return and being able to continue with his life and others, with a lump in his throat trying to look ahead and not look back, assimilating that he will not be able to resume his life soon.
That is why Helsinki Spain has decided to launch the “Embrace a ukrainian family” initiative thanks to which the Association undertakes to give shelter to a Ukrainian family that has been forced to leave their country because of the cruel latent war in it through the following proposal:
- Pay for a rental home in the city of Madrid and supply with what is necessary to be able to live in the country, thus covering the essential needs of the family.
- In addition, it is expected that by having these with children, a schooling plan will be launched so that they can not only obtain a decent and quality education, but also learn the Spanish language that can facilitate their integration within of Spanish society.
- Facilitate all legal and juridical procedures for the family so that their stay in Spain is legal and they can have access to all public services free of charge and without interruption..
Helsinki España thanks to its wide network of contacts, wants to raise funds to be able to guarantee this family a reception of two years of residence in Spain. This initiative seeks that anyone who can contribute their help, by making a monetary amount to the organization, to create a bank account exclusively reserved for this campaign, in order to make it possible. The Association considers that each one will be free to contribute the amount they wish, being able to do so monthly over the two years covered within this campaign or donate a total amount directly.
It is important to note that for this initiative to be possible, the Team of the Helsinki Spain organization has a person born in Ukraine who speaks the language and who can support the family, facilitating communication with the other members of the Association.
In order for the family to feel safe, the rental contract will be in the name of the Helsinki Spain organization, which will make its actions public every month via its website. In this way, its transparency before the community will be guaranteed.
Thanks to the entire Team, the great network of contacts of Helsinki Spain both nationally and internationally, and the cooperation of the community, the Association seeks to contribute its grain of sand and show solidarity with Ukraine and its population.
Soon we will enable a tab on our website to inform you about the evolution of the project.
If you are interested in participating, but have questions about how to do it, contact us via email at he@helsinkiespana.org r by calling us at 915335455 or 629544873.
