UNHCR’s Partner Organizations in Czechia

Organization for Aid to Refugees (OPU) Association for Integration & Migration (SIMI) AMIGA proFem La Strada Romodrom Slovo 21

❗️IMPORTANT❗️

All UNHCR services are FREE OF CHARGE whether they are directly provided by UNHCR or through its partners. Please contact UNHCR to report any incidents.

UNHCR Czechia has seven NGO partners and one Government partner (the Ministry of Interior), through which it provides tailored individual support, social counselling, legal advice, or representation in individual cases. To learn more about respective UNHCR partners, see the overview below:

Services provided:

• Free provision of information, legal counselling, and representation by lawyers addressing the needs of refugees, asylum-seekers, and stateless persons. The lawyers conduct regular visits to the Zastávka Reception Center and Kostelec Accommodation Center to provide legal counselling.
• Community outreach workers regularly visit refugee facilities to monitor and refer individuals to relevant services, including legal aid. Social workers provide support to refugees in accessing essential services including housing, healthcare, school placement for children, and employment.
• Integration and social inclusion activities include information and counselling to facilitate access to housing, employment, healthcare, education, language classes, social, inter-cultural and other support. The iVolunteer database is maintained to facilitate volunteer involvement in integration activities.

Locations: Zastávka u Brna, Brno (Zastávka Reception Center); Kostelec nad Orlicí (Kostelec Accommodation Center), Prague, Ostrava, Hradec Králové and Pilsen.
Languages spoken: Czech, English, Ukrainian

Services provided:

• Information and legal counselling to asylum-seekers at Prague Václav Havel Airport through regular visits by a lawyer to the airport reception centre to provide information to asylum-seekers about the asylum procedure and applicant’s rights. Legal counselling and assistance are also provided to refugees and asylum-seekers for cases in Prague and its surroundings.
• Individual protection and social counselling for refugee integration in the labour market, housing, and healthcare is undertaken in collaboration with partners and refugee-led organizations.
• Intercultural workers provide interpretation and aid refugees in interactions with institutions. Outreach activities target refugees in accommodations, facilitating integration.
• Online outreach reached refugees with information and materials on labour rights, employment, healthcare, and housing, as well as combating misinformation.

Locations: Prague Václav Havel Airport, Prague, and Central Bohemia.
Languages spoken: Czech, English, Ukrainian, Polish, Mongolian, Vietnamese, Russian.

Services provided:

• Group-based and individual MHPSS is provided in AMIGA’s Community Centre in Prague and online. Trained Ukrainian psychologists provide group activities for refugee children, adolescents, elderly persons, adults, and parents. AMIGA organizes community and cultural activities and conducts awareness-raising.
• Training and support for helping professionals is provided through capacity-building on MHPSS techniques and approaches for teachers, community centre workers, psychologists, and other professionals. AMIGA offers individual mentoring to participants seeking employment and also supports Ukrainian MHPSS specialists through supervision and peer-to-peer consultations.

Locations: Prague.
Languages spoken: Czech, English, Ukrainian, Russian

Services provided:

• Awareness-raising through a Ukrainian-language section on proFem’s website with information on GBV, risks, and support resources, as well as a social media campaign targeting Ukrainian refugees.
• Capacity development of NGOs working on GBV and NGOs assisting forcibly displaced persons, as well as refugee-led organizations, refugees and asylum-seekers, to foster cooperation and a robust referral system.
• Direct support services for GBV survivors are provided through crisis intervention, psychosocial support, legal services, and therapeutic interventions in Prague and the Central Bohemian Region (Příbram, Benešov, Beroun).

Locations: Prague and Central Bohemian (Příbram, Benešov, Beroun).
Languages spoken: Czech, Ukrainian, English

Services provided:

• Direct outreach support in high-concentration areas and workplaces prone to labour exploitation to raise awareness about risks. Outreach teams are multilingual, provide informational materials and on-the-spot consultations, and collaborate with organizations within refugee communities to disseminate information.
• An SOS Line and online outreach activities are maintained to provide psychological support, information dissemination, and online consultations. La Strada collaborates with local authorities and law enforcement to monitor and report cases of trafficking and exploitation and to provide legal assistance.
• Accommodation for mothers with children is provided for Ukrainians in Prague, with specialized psychosocial support. Cultural mediators who speak Ukrainian are also employed for service delivery.
• Training for social workers working with Ukrainian refugees and refugee children to identify and address exploitation and trafficking. The training is accredited by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

Locations: Prague and throughout Czechia, with a focus on areas with high concentrations of refugees and potential labour exploitation.
Languages spoken: Czech, Bulgarian, English, French, Mongolian, Filipino, Romanian, Ukrainian, Russian

Services provided:

• Provide information, legal and social counselling, and assistance to refugees and asylum-seekers targeting vulnerable Ukrainian refugee groups, including individuals of Roma origin, elderly persons, and single mothers. This includes offering guidance and support in legal procedures, such as applying for Temporary Protection and humanitarian benefits, providing information and assistance in enrolling children in schools, and facilitating rental and employment contracts.
• Assisting with establishing vulnerability status and compiling necessary documentation; making referrals to other service providers where necessary.
• Regular visits to reception, accommodation, and detention facilities mainly outside Prague, in socially excluded areas, and collective accommodation facilities. Romodrom ensures access to remote areas.

Locations: Karlovarský, South Bohemia, South Moravia, Hradec Králové and Central Bohemia.
Languages spoken: Czech, English, Romani

Services provided:

• Integration activities that foster cross-cultural understanding. Activities like “Family Next Door” and “Hello Czech Republic” support Czech and foreign families to share a meal, and students in elementary and high schools to understand issues related to refugees, integration, identity, and stereotypes. “Theatre of the Oppressed” is an activity that creates performances involving refugee actors through the active participation of audiences to influence the storyline, fostering empathy, dialogue, and understanding of the refugee experience.
• Informal Czech language courses are offered to refugees to enhance language skills at various proficiency levels and are conducted in various regions.
• Research on integration and adaptation of Ukrainian refugees to understand Ukrainian refugees’ experiences in Czechia, conducted in collaboration with the Faculty of Science of the Charles University.
• Community interpreting is offered to assist refugees in interactions with various offices and medical professionals.
• Information provision seminars and online content are provided for targeted and practical information to refugees covering topics such as employment, education, the healthcare system, and everyday life.

Locations: Prague, Ústecký, Karlovy Vary, Pardubice, South Bohemia, South Moravia, Plzeň, Cheb, Litomyšl and Teplice.
Languages spoken: Czech, English, Romani