Entrepreneurship as a path to integration of Ukrainian refugees? Join the Webinar with MPG’s Alexander Wolffhardt on 2 June
Date:
2 June 2022 10:00-11:45 AM
Webinar title:
Entrepreneurship as a driver of economic inclusion: Good practices, challenges and opportunities for (female) beneficiaries of Temporary Protection from Ukraine
Webinar description
More than 6 million people have fled across Ukraine’s borders following Russia’s invasion, with the vast majority heading to neighbouring EU countries. Those arriving in the EU are largely women, children and elderly. Many newcomers are now sole caregivers, meaning that care services may be a precondition for their entrance into EU labour markets, pointing to specific challenges for the integration process.
According to the Temporary Protection Directive, this group should be able to engage in self-employed activities. Some Member States have also launched programmes aimed at facilitating the relocation of Ukrainian companies. Indeed, migrant and refugee entrepreneurship has been recognised as a vehicle for integration, contributing to economic growth and social cohesion. Initiatives supporting migrant entrepreneurs and helping them overcome specific challenges, such as smaller networks, language barriers and difficulties in accessing finance have bourgeoned in Europe. In addition, advances in digitalization and the reorganization of the world of work triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic have created new opportunities related to digital entrepreneurship and remote working.
We are glad to invite you to this webinar, exploring innovative tools and approaches, as well as their applicability to arrivals from Ukraine, with a specific focus on female migrant entrepreneurship.
Panellists:
- Mr Jakub Boratyński, Director, Networks & Governance – Directorate D, European Commission, DG for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (TBC)
- Mr Alexander Wolffhardt, Deputy Director, Migration Policy Group
- Ms Pinar Yapanoglu, Portfolio Manager for migration and development projects, ICMPD Turkey and Western Balkans
- Mr Zoran Rajkovic, Consultant, Vienna Business Agency, Startup Services / Migrant Enterprises
- Mr Mustafa Tahir, Project Coordinator, Kompass Frankfurt
- Ms Sofia Altafi, Co-founder of Ester Foundation, Sweden
The webinar is taking place within the EU-funded SPRING project on Sustainable Practices of Integration, which aims to gather, summarise and share the best available research and evidence on integration. Interested stakeholders are invited to register to the project´s JOIN US CAMPAIGN.
What is MPG’s involvement?
As a panellist, MPG’s Deputy Director, Alexander Wolffhardt, will be taking part in discussions about how entrepreneurship provides a potential path to the integration of Ukrainian refugees. In doing so, he is likely to touch upon a number of relevant projects in which the Migration Policy Group has been involved. First, the Newcomer Entrepreneurship Support project, which aimed to empower incubators, accelerators and other entrepreneurship services to become more effective and inclusive by catering for the needs of newcomer entrepreneurs, with a focus on refugees and non-EU migrants. Second, MPG coordinated a network for mutual learning as part of the Migrant Entrepreneurship Growth Agenda (MEGA) project which focused on strengthening policies to support migrant entrepreneurship. Third, and in collaboration with the Webinar’s organisers, MPG is a partner in the Sustainable Practices of Integration (SprINg) project, an EU-funded project which seeks to gather, summarise and share the best available research and evidence on integration practices.
About the Migration Policy Group (MPG)
MPG is an independent think-and-do-tank based in Brussels. MPG’s purpose is rooted in its ability to inspire networks to provide evidence-based projects, research and campaigns in the areas of integration, migration and anti-discrimination.