The UNICORE Project: the first student refugee arrives in Padua

23.11.2022

(Photo ©UNHCR/Michele Cirillo)

The first student refugee arrives in Padua from Nigeria as part of the University Corridors for Refugees UNICORE Project, coordinated by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The UNICORE project includes numerous Italian universities that have made over 140 scholarships available to student refugees for the past four years. 

Admitted to the Master's Degree in Communication Strategies programme, the student will enjoy the guidance and support of the University’s International Relations Area and various NGOs throughout their training up to graduation.

The newly arrived student and another student refugee scheduled to arrive in Padua in the coming months will study at the University of Padua as part of the UNICORE project for the 2022/23 academic year. 

The UNICORE project is promoted by 33 Italian universities with the support of UNHCR, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Caritas Italiana, Diaconia Valdese, Centro Astalli, Gandhi Charity, Fondazione Lanza and other partners.

Now in its fourth edition, the UNICORE project provides scholarships to refugee students residing in Cameroon, Malawi, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe to study in Italy under safe conditions as a means to continue their studies from among the 33 participating Italian universities.

Scheduled to arrive in the coming days, the first group of 51 refugees receiving scholarships, thanks to the UNICORE project, will continue their academic careers in Italy.

The first group of the 51 refugee scholarship recipients, 13 female and 38 male, were selected by each university based on academic merit and motivation following a call published in April 2022 and will attend a two-year master's degree programme.