How to Support Refugees Digitally

April 21, 2022 /3BL Media/ - The humanitarian crisis unfolding in Ukraine has already forced more than 5 million people to flee the country. Many will stay at their new locations for a longer time – and they need employment. This is where digital corporate volunteering can make a difference: providing individual educational and job support for refugees creates social impact, even from a distance. The partnership of Volunteer Vision and Deutsche Bank shows how.

Since 2016, Volunteer Vision has been helping refugees access higher education and employment, no matter where they come from. When millions of refugees arrived in Europe in 2015 and the following years, many companies decided to help directly and unbureaucratically, including Deutsche Bank. For many refugees, Europe was to become their permanent residence, and thus creating the need for long-term support beyond financial donations and temporary accommodations. Using digital mentoring Deutsche Bank connected hundreds of employees with refugees to help them with language training, job orientation, job preparation and career return.

Of course, today's situation is different from 2015 – but Volunteer Vision has been able to implement valuable learnings: what content refugees most benefit from, how to individualize programs (because one size does not fit all) and how mentors need to be trained beforehand. In their mentoring programs, mentors from companies are equipped with essential cultural and didactical skills, and then connected with refugees. Both meet in a virtual classroom and work with interactive, multilingual e-learning materials.

Volunteer Vision’s online mentoring programs support:

• Job orientation (for people with a first degree or vocational training)
• Job preparation (CV and interview preparation support)
• Career returners (professional re-entry after a longer job break)
• Language support

Digital volunteering is now successfully used by Deutsche Bank in over 13 countries, and others like Capgemini and Pfizer have joined to implement Volunteer Vision’s online mentoring programs and support refugees.

Volunteer Vision has carved a unique position in CSR with its ability to deliver measurable results while engaging employees:

• 84 % of mentors significantly increase their attachment to and pride in their employer.
• 87 % of mentees have managed to write a professional CV.
• 98 % of mentees feel strengthened in their employability skills.

This shows that effective support for refugees is also possible digitally and remotely. If you want to learn more about Volunteer Vision’s mentoring programs for refugee support, please feel free to register here and download our CSR program overview. Participation is free of charge for mentees and NGOs.