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To help professionals in exile convert their qualifications to UK standards to be able to resume their interrupted careers after suffering persecution in their home countries due to their courageous stance to uphold human rights.
Categories
Beneficiaries
Situation
Many prisoners of conscience in exile are highly qualified professionals who are not able to access employment in the UK because their qualifications are not recognised. Victoria from Zimbabwe is one example. She was forced to claim asylum in the UK after she organised political meetings on behalf of an opposition party. Back home she was a teacher, but her qualifications weren’t recognised in the UK and she was forced to take a low-paid zero-hours job as a care worker.
Solution
Our bursary scheme helps prisoners of conscience requalify by providing them with grants to pay for education at all levels, which in turn helps them find meaningful employment. We also offer an Employability Panel to provide specialist career advice. Victoria used a bursary to study a Masters in Public Health and now works as a nurse. She says: “Without Prisoners of Conscience I wouldn’t have managed as I have my three boys to take care of. If it were not for you, I wouldn’t be who I am today.”