YES project

The YES project (Youth Engagement and Sensitisation for Refugee Integration and an Inclusive Hungarian Society), on the one hand, will help young refugees and immigrants living in Hungary to become active participants in their communities and Hungarian society. On the other hand, it will increase the awareness of Hungarian youth and teachers through sessions that help them understand the situation of refugees and immigrants. The YES project was born out of our wish to encourage refugees and immigrants – who belong to a minority with one of the most negative portrayals in Hungary – to feel more at home in Hungary by becoming more visible and equal.

The main activities of the project are:

• The work of the Helsinki Committee is supported by the Young Voices for the Voiceless working group. The team consists of seven brave and diverse young people who help our organisation’s communication with advice and participate in the organisation of the events to be implemented in the project. Members of Young Voices will learn how to facilitate, moderate, communicate and mentor others.
• In the autumn of 2023 and the spring of 2024, we will hold a social participation course for refugee, immigrant and Hungarian youth. The aim of the course is to create a team of young people from diverse backgrounds who will jointly realize a social action of public interest.
• We conduct school workshops using the experiential pedagogy method for Hungarian high school students about the life experiences of refugees and immigrants.
• In the summer of 2023 and 2024, we will organize a four-day-long human rights camp for refugee, immigrant and Hungarian youth in order to get to know each other better and to experience the enjoyment of human rights.
• We will hold a training for local government staff and service providers in order to help them serve people who have fled Ukraine more efficiently.
• We are organizing a two-day retreat for secondary school teachers, during which we will help them learn how to talk about refugees and immigration with their students in schools.
• We will also publish our experience in a methodological manual.

Project duration: 1 September 2022 – 31 August 2024

The project is funded by terre des hommes Germany.