Promoting Education Pathways for Refugees Around the World

Globally, 7% of refugees have access to higher education. This is far below the average of 40% among those who are not refugees.

For four decades, WUSC has been promoting access to higher education for refugees, and mobilizing the Canadian postsecondary education community to offer complementary education pathways for refugees. Through the Student Refugee Program, we are providing life-changing opportunities for young refugees to pursue postsecondary education in Canada. 

This unique, youth-to-youth model has combined resettlement with opportunities for higher education for over 2,600 refugee youth. At postsecondary institutions across Canada, students form Local Committees to support refugee students’ sponsorship and integration. 

The Student Refugee Program provides a one-of-a-kind partnership opportunity for universities, colleges and CEGEPs to directly respond to the growing need for durable solutions for refugees and to provide access to higher education opportunities to young people affected by forced displacement.

In recent years, several commitments and efforts were made by various stakeholders around the world to provide education opportunities for refugees. In many countries, governments, NGOs, and postsecondary communities are proposing and developing community-based models to ensure education and employment opportunities for refugees. Canada’s Student Refugee Program, created and implemented by WUSC, provides a successful model for countries to follow.

Building sustainable pathways through education

Mexico is one of the few countries in the world to implement a complementary education pathway like Canada’s.

Habesha Project Complementary Pathways is an initiative of USCRI Mexico, in partnership with UNHCR, the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Mexican Commission for Refugee Aid (COMAR). 

The program provides long-term solutions to displacement through higher education in Mexico for refugees from Kenya and Jordan. By mobilizing resources and a network of Mexican universities, the project aims to break down the barriers faced by refugees when seeking higher education by offering an opportunity for refugee youth to continue their studies in Mexico. 

This program seeks to formalize and scale up with the objective of meeting Mexico’s international commitment to support a hundred refugee students with quality higher education, leading to more economic inclusion, resilience, and prosperity for refugee youth.

In 2023, WUSC provided dedicated technical support to the Habesha Project with the purpose to strengthen viable, efficient, and gender-sensitive structures, processes, and internal systems for the program. 

Impact and Lessons learned 

The exchange of good practices with Canadian stakeholders, facilitated through a technical visit to Canada, had a powerful impact on stakeholders in Mexico. It facilitated access to knowledge and enhanced their understanding of gender-responsive programs and promising practices to adopt for the delivery of their own program. 

This exchange allowed a better understanding by all members of the different steps needed in implementing an education pathway program, while acknowledging the need for adaptation due to the unique context they operate in. It allowed to strengthen the consortium’s capacity to jointly and sustainably implement the pathway and to identify strategies to respond to the program’s current bottlenecks and challenges. 

Furthermore, the relationship between stakeholders involved in the implementation of the program was strengthened and it enabled effective communication channels. There was greater interest and momentum within the Mexican Government to further support the Habesha Project and engage with key national actors offering services to refugees, youth and students in Mexico, and to expand linkages and partnerships necessary for a comprehensive program implementation.

This project has highlighted the potential and value of discussing practical strategies and strengthening connections when developing third country education pathways for refugees. By supporting our partners, WUSC will continue promoting the expansion of higher education and protection opportunities for displaced youth.

Funder acknowledgement 

WUSC was a deployed expert for this technical assistance project of Canada’s Technical Assistance Partnership (TAP) Expert Deployment Mechanism (EDM) managed by Alinea International and funded by Global Affairs Canada.

WUSC worked alongside the Mexican Commission for Refugee Aid (COMAR), USCRI Mexico, the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs and UNHCR Mexico to enhance the operationalization of the Habesha Project, the first and only education pathways for refugees in Mexico.