Nursing Sciences at Comboni College: inclusive teaching for outcast Christian minorities
Sudan
Status
FinalisationAid type
Project-type interventionsSudan
Location
-
€ 799,317
Committed
Committed
€ 799,317
Used
Used
Description
This two-year proposal aims to reduce inequalities in Sudan by strengthening and promoting inclusion. Specifically, it intends to support access to university education in the health professions of students belonging to the most vulnerable groups, in particular refugees and, among them, Christian minorities exposed to discrimination. Through the partnership with Comboni College of Science and Technology (CCST), a property will be built and equipped, home to the new degree course in Nursing Sciences with specialization in Palliative Care – Oncology and Obstetrics – Intensive Care Unit. The classrooms will include simulation laboratories to integrate the theoretical course with practical activities in order to ensure quality learning for students, future professionals in the Sudanese health sector and reduce the risk of error on patients at the beginning of their career. Thanks to the collaboration with the CCST we aspire to the construction of a healthy, respectful, inclusive and accessible environment. The current context makes it particularly difficult for refugees to access public university, where the grade of the baccalaureate exam filters access. Young refugees normally live on the outskirts of the Khartoum metropolitan area, where basic public services such as water or electricity are lacking. Because of these economic and social problems, linguistic, cultural and religious barriers, the discrimination suffered, refugees are the most disadvantaged of school age and struggle to reach the minimum marks set for access to reduced fees for public universities, thus remaining excluded from tertiary education. The shortcomings of the Sudanese health system are due both to the lack of provision of services and to the limited competence of staff, due to inadequate academic preparation. This initiative will simultaneously focus on the health and educational sectors, which are priorities for cooperation in Sudan, focusing on the need to train qualified health personnel in a safe space for Christian minorities. The CCST offers fees accessible to all and 46% of its 786 university students come from refugee families. The new course, as well as the entire structure of the CCST, will be open to all, to promote peaceful coexistence and reduce the risk of exposure to violence of the beneficiaries of the Christian minority. Within the course, a mentorship and tutorship program will also be established, to strengthen the link between study path and job insertion. The beneficiaries will be students, who will benefit from an accompaniment in the transition from the University to health services and teachers, who will see their teaching skills strengthened. This will fuel a virtuous circle of improved education that is more integrated with work, enabling higher performance by health professionals, to improve services for the population. In addition, the new building will be home to the group of palliative care volunteers launched at the College from 2018, which includes Muslim and Christian students from different academic programs led by palliative care course staff. The new laboratories will also be used to improve the skills of volunteers active with children at the Khartoum cancer center, contributing to the inclusion of a particularly fragile group of patients. The group will also be involved in the creation of a community palliative care center in the Haj Yousif district, where the church has a small medical center serving the inhabitants of this neighborhood on the outskirts of Bahri, with a large presence of South Sudanese refugees and Nuba displaced persons. Finally, the volunteer activity may concern the cycling club for girls and girls already hosted within the Comboni campus, which through sport deals with women's empowerment. Under the "pretext" of sport, refugee girls, the Christian minority and the host community learn skills and move around the neighborhood and city independently.
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| Year | Committed | Used |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | € 0 | € 319,727 |
| 2022 | € 799,317 | € 479,590 |
Agency
| Type | Name | Channel code |
|---|---|---|
| Government | AICS - Italian Agency for Cooperation and Development | 11000 |
Channel reported
| Type | Name | Channel code |
|---|---|---|
| National NGO | AISPO - ASSOCIAZIONE ITALIANA PER LA SOLIDARIETÀ TRA I POPOLI ONG/ON | 22000 |
Project data
Sectors
Policy markers
SDGs
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