MINT – Mentoring for integration of third country national children affected by migration is an exciting project developed by Terre des hommes (Foundation) and partners, Fundacja Ocalenie, Organization for aid to refugees, and Slovenska Filantropija, to support the integration of newly-arrived migrant children, including separated and unaccompanied children, in Poland, Romania, Slovenia and the Czech Republic. The project was funded by the European Union’s Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (2014-2020).

Mentoring has been shown to be an effective way to share knowledge, increase children’s social and emotional skills, promote integration, and empower both local and non-national youth.

Through the MINT project, more than 130 recently arrived children were matched with 110 local youth volunteers who provided the children with support, advice, and friendship in order to help them integrate. They participated in and organised activities such as sports, language courses, cultural introduction, and child-led awareness raising and advocacy.

Marta, a mentor from Poland, said: “I saw the power of this project and I loved meeting new people, new cultures and I encouraged my friends to take part in the second edition. I think there is a great need for this programme, I see how it responds to the needs of the children.”

Fares, a mentee from Slovenia said about her favourite aspect of the project: “The most useful for me was that I could practice the language and also build relationships and have trips to other cities."

A Mentoring Methodology Framework developed through this project, which incorporates learning from the project and other good practices, is a useful resource for any organisation setting up a mentoring programme for the integration of migrant children. From the document, you can learn:

• About mentoring
• How to design a mentoring programme
• How to implement mentoring in practice, including practical tips for “going digital"
• About relevant cross-cutting considerations

Download the Mentoring Methodological Framework here.

Read more about this an innovative and replicable peer-to-peer mentoring programme in our Knowledge Hub here.

Photo copyright: ©Tdh Romania (above) and ©Fundacja Ocalenie (below)