Eligo Plus

The civil society organisation Minor-Ndako is supporting unaccompanied and separated youth who have been identified as facing additional social, health and psychological vulnerabilities. In contrast to shorter-term reception practices by the state, the initiative “Eligo” provides long-term qualitative support aiming at fostering the unaccompanied and separated youth’s personal development, participation in society and overall well-being in a context of autonomous living. Eligo currently supports unaccompanied and separated youth in Brussels and Flanders within the system of special youth care. With the project grant, “Eligo Plus” scaled up and strengthened the individual and psycho-social support it provides to the young people with seven additional reception places.

Eligo Plus included two buddy programmes with students of orthopedagogics and social work, in partnership with the Odisee school. In the “leisure buddy” programme, unaccompanied and separated youth carried out various leisure activities with buddy students, which aim at facilitating their integration in the host society and at the creation of a social network. The “duo buddy” programme paired a student coached with a professional social worker who together support and empower an unaccompanied and separated youngster in his or her transition to autonomy. Both types of buddy programmes were accompanied by training and monitoring by a team of professional social workers.