Special Opportunities

Dear SRP alumni and Local Committee members, 

For several years, WUSC has been supporting countries from around the world to develop more durable solutions and access to meaningful education opportunities for refugees by sharing its models of youth to youth refugee resettlement and integration, student-led funding and collaboration with post-secondary institutions.  

As part of these efforts, WUSC has been working closely with stakeholders in Mexico and Ecuador to support social inclusion and improve access to higher education for displaced and refugee youth.

WUSC is currently providing technical support to the Mexican NGO Diálogo Intercultural Mexicano (DIME) to sustainably extend and mobilize a youth network in Mexico to address the barriers refugee and displaced youth face to integration and self-reliance. Similarly, WUSC and UNHCR Ecuador are collaborating to identify solutions that can be undertaken by various subsets of the higher education community in Ecuador to foster social inclusion of displaced youth through access to higher education.

In the upcoming months, an online presentation, a virtual roundtable discussion and an in-person training will take place as part of WUSC’s activities in Mexico and Ecuador. WUSC will be facilitating sessions in these events and would like to invite a student/alumni volunteer to co-facilitate those sessions and provide ad hoc capacity building support alongside WUSC. We are inviting interested candidates to complete this application form and send it along with the required documents back to srp@wusc.ca before the end of day, July 17, 2022. 

Candidates must meet the following criteria in order to be considered: 

• Must be a student or recent graduate (within the last 2 years) 

• Must be a Canadian citizen and have a valid Canadian passport or a valid travel document

• Must have been resettled to Canada via the SRP and/or been an active member of a WUSC Local Committee (LC) for at least one year 

• Must have participated in at least one WUSC-offered Local Committee training in the past

• Must be available to co-facilitate online sessions in August and September

• Must be available to travel for 5 days to Mexico in December (exact dates to be determined)

• Must be proficient in Spanish (understands and communicates easily)

• Should be a good communicator and be familiar with the diversity of SRP implementation models across Canada (Local Committees structure, roles/responsibilities, main activities, etc.)

• Must be willing to share their experience of participating in the event on social media and other public fora, and participate in organizational communications related to the trip prior to departure and upon return

• Must be willing to work with WUSC staff organizing the sessions, co-developing the presentations and workshops content.

• Must have demonstrated experience in facilitating trainings with large groups of participants and be willing to co-facilitate the workshop in Spanish with another WUSC staff and other partners

Funding your participation: 

The costs of the volunteer co-facilitator’s participation in Mexico will be covered (flight, accommodations, meals) for the duration of the event. 

Timeline: 

Step 1: Shortlisting and selection based on criteria above, with interviews as needed (July 04 to 08)

Step 2: Notification of chosen co-facilitator (Mid-July)

Step 3: Presentation to DIME Student Committees (August)

Step 4: Ecuador’s virtual presentation and co-facilitation (September)

Step 5: Travel to Mexico and co-facilitation of session (December)

Please note that only complete applications will be reviewed, and only applicants who are shortlisted will be contacted. 

Thank you for your interest in helping WUSC improve social inclusion and access to higher education for displaced and refugee youth in Mexico and Ecuador!

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