Helsinki alliance for refugee children
APOSTOLI General Manager, Mr. Konstantinos Dimtsas, and other officials met with Finnish Church Aid Executive Director, Mr. Jouni Hemberg, (3-5 May 2017) to assess ongoing bilateral cooperation in the field of education of refugees from Syria and Afghanistan and examine expansion of joint programs in view of continuing refugee flows from Turkey.
APOSTOLI and FCA jointly and in cooperation with UNICEF are carrying out a comprehensive non-formal child refugee education program in Attica, Ioannina and Thebes aiming at providing school and cultural education and hygiene training. The program is co-funded from FEA and UNICEF funds.
Mr. Hemberg praised the high level of know-how and service of APOSTOLI and expressed his will to continue the educational programs for refugees in Greece, as Finland is considered a model country in education.
Mr. Dimtsas also met with staff from the Finnish Foreign Ministry from the Joint European Affairs and Coordination Division and the Humanitarian Aid and Policy Department and informed them of the latest developments in refugee and immigration in Greece in connection with the domestic economic and social crisis. They all expressed their admiration for the love and solidarity shown by Greek people, the Church and the various Humanitarian organizations to the huge number of refugees coming to Greece in 2015 and 2016.
APOSTOLI also had a private meeting with Helsinki Metropolitan, Ambassador of the Finnish Orthodox Church (Ecumenical Patriarchate) and members of Philanthropy, an organization, which provides humanitarian aid in Sub-Saharan Africa, at metropolises and structures of the Palestinian Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa. During the meeting Mr. Dimtsas and Executive Director Mrs. Riina Nguyen discussed the prospects for bilateral cooperation.
Within the framework of the visit to Finland, Mr Dimtsas and his associates, Vasiliki Leontari and Dr. Vasilios Th. Meichanetsidis from the Department of Programs and International Cooperation, also visited charity and intercultural actions of parishes, refugee reception and integration structures, as well as intercultural schools, and had meetings with executives of the Finnish Red Cross, the Lutheran Evangelical Church and the Finnish state focusing on refugee, education and volunteer issues.
Finnish Church Aid is the international humanitarian arm of the Finnish Lutheran Evangelical Church implementing international relief programs in Asia and Africa and performing training programs in Greece in collaboration with APOSTOLI.