0:00:08.317,0:00:09.749
I am here tonight

0:00:09.755,0:00:14.555
because I gave a promise[br]to a 12-year-old boy from Afghanistan.

0:00:15.548,0:00:17.418
His name is Hamid,

0:00:17.588,0:00:19.458
and this is his photo.

0:00:20.123,0:00:24.904
Hamid left by himself[br]from Kandahar in Afghanistan.

0:00:25.691,0:00:29.758
He left behind[br]his five brothers, his parents

0:00:29.896,0:00:32.894
and the terror imposed by the Taliban.

0:00:35.262,0:00:40.963
Hamid was thought to have[br]the best potential amongst his siblings.

0:00:41.259,0:00:43.542
He was the best student.

0:00:43.678,0:00:48.767
What he wanted was a chance[br]to have a normal life.

0:00:49.575,0:00:55.235
He wanted to stop struggling to survive[br]every single day of his life.

0:00:56.382,0:00:59.921
He wanted to stop being afraid.

0:01:00.648,0:01:03.185
These were his words to me:

0:01:05.172,0:01:07.442
"I've walked all the way to Turkey,

0:01:07.859,0:01:12.956
through the mountains, the valleys[br]and the deserts of three countries.

0:01:13.679,0:01:17.167
After four months, I reached the coast.

0:01:18.211,0:01:21.618
I had never seen so much water before.

0:01:22.626,0:01:26.158
The small boat to Greece[br]was full of people.

0:01:26.944,0:01:30.712
Women and babies were crying.

0:01:31.725,0:01:34.410
Thank God, we arrived alive.

0:01:34.758,0:01:37.829
But we were arrested by the police.

0:01:38.554,0:01:41.376
I ended up in prison.

0:01:42.007,0:01:46.338
It is difficult when I think[br]how many days I was there.

0:01:47.068,0:01:49.020
What did I do wrong?"

0:01:49.800,0:01:53.121
Hamid was detained with another 40 minors

0:01:53.134,0:01:58.325
in Amygdaleza, a detention centre[br]for refugees in Greece.

0:01:58.918,0:02:04.927
After being released, he spent five months[br]living homeless in Pedion tou Areos,

0:02:04.935,0:02:09.326
one of the largest public parks[br]in the centre of Athens.

0:02:10.151,0:02:12.441
"I was alone again.

0:02:12.920,0:02:16.194
Every night men would come near me.

0:02:16.504,0:02:19.339
They would drink beer and do drugs.

0:02:20.349,0:02:23.150
One night, an old man came

0:02:23.164,0:02:26.303
and offered me 20 euros[br]to go home with him.

0:02:26.993,0:02:29.640
I started running to get away.

0:02:30.749,0:02:34.206
I was afraid of the police[br]because I had no papers.

0:02:34.719,0:02:38.011
I did not know what to do[br]or where to go.

0:02:39.472,0:02:42.003
I didn't speak any English nor Greek,

0:02:42.308,0:02:44.055
so I couldn't ask for help.

0:02:44.854,0:02:49.667
Someone led me to a centre[br]for homeless people in Omonoia Square.

0:02:50.115,0:02:54.451
I started sleeping[br]in one of the corners of the square.

0:02:56.024,0:02:59.338
On Christmas Day I met Amadou,

0:02:59.814,0:03:02.764
who brought me[br]to The Home Project shelter.

0:03:03.353,0:03:06.323
Everything has change since then,

0:03:06.777,0:03:09.387
and I can now tell you my story.

0:03:10.783,0:03:15.759
Hamid was one of the fortunate[br]lone refugee children.

0:03:16.229,0:03:19.340
You see, he ended up in one[br]of our shelters.

0:03:19.959,0:03:24.409
Sadly, this is not the case[br]for the majority of the kids.

0:03:25.649,0:03:30.766
Hamid is one of thousands of children[br]travelling all alone

0:03:30.771,0:03:35.141
amidst the biggest demographic change[br]since the Second World War.

0:03:35.788,0:03:41.481
They are what we call in official terms[br]unaccompanied minors.

0:03:42.036,0:03:45.356
The reasons they travel alone vary.

0:03:45.787,0:03:49.432
Many have lost their parents[br]during the journey.

0:03:49.747,0:03:56.165
Others are sent away to escape war,[br]poverty or persecution.

0:03:56.696,0:04:00.588
They are all in search of a better future.

0:04:01.479,0:04:07.499
Travelling alone and unprotected,[br]they are exposed to all sort of dangers,

0:04:07.676,0:04:13.589
from child abuse to organ trafficking[br]to sexual exploitation.

0:04:14.908,0:04:16.434
As we speak,

0:04:16.439,0:04:20.502
children in the centre of Athens,[br]right next to us,

0:04:20.505,0:04:24.528
are selling themselves for sex[br]in order to survive.

0:04:25.617,0:04:30.797
What awaits refugee children[br]on the other side of their epic journeys

0:04:30.812,0:04:33.090
are closed borders in Greece,

0:04:33.103,0:04:34.708
where there is a chronic lack

0:04:34.721,0:04:39.290
of social welfare facilities[br]and services to accommodate them

0:04:39.295,0:04:43.684
and provide for them the necessary[br]safety and protection framework.

0:04:45.392,0:04:48.689
More than 1.5 million people

0:04:48.703,0:04:53.300
have reached Greece[br]since the beginning of 2015.

0:04:54.458,0:05:00.562
More than 9,000 lives have been lost[br]while crossing the Mediterranean.

0:05:01.343,0:05:08.184
Many were children,[br]and many of them were travelling alone.

0:05:08.808,0:05:12.207
The term migrant or refugee crisis

0:05:12.242,0:05:16.716
cannot begin to explain[br]the complexity of this phenomenon.

0:05:17.674,0:05:22.378
40% of refugee arrivals are children.

0:05:23.110,0:05:26.171
Of those, we don't know exactly how many,

0:05:26.201,0:05:28.224
and this is part of the problem,

0:05:28.239,0:05:33.888
are thousands of children[br]who travel and arrive in Europe all alone.

0:05:34.644,0:05:36.904
According to official estimates,

0:05:36.923,0:05:39.597
100,000 unaccompanied minors

0:05:39.611,0:05:43.906
sought asylum[br]in the European Union in 2015.

0:05:44.639,0:05:50.088
13% of them are children[br]younger than the age of 14.

0:05:51.438,0:05:56.212
Hamid is one of the 6,512

0:05:56.223,0:06:00.474
officially registered[br]unaccompanied minors in Greece.

0:06:00.832,0:06:06.380
This is a four-times larger number[br]than the corresponding period a year ago.

0:06:06.857,0:06:08.458
And note this:

0:06:08.612,0:06:10.971
after the EU-Turkey agreement,

0:06:10.971,0:06:14.334
despite the general decrease[br]in the number of arrivals,

0:06:14.365,0:06:19.251
the number of lone refugee children[br]is constantly increasing.

0:06:19.899,0:06:21.246
What has happened is

0:06:21.248,0:06:25.693
that with the closure of the borders[br]these children are now trapped in Greece,

0:06:26.126,0:06:29.596
and all the relevant shelters[br]are in full capacity.

0:06:29.843,0:06:35.043
As a result, today,[br]more than 1,000 children

0:06:35.111,0:06:39.948
are homeless and in urgent need[br]of protection and support.

0:06:40.868,0:06:42.868
They are spread all over the country,

0:06:43.214,0:06:49.445
living in the streets, in camps,[br]in detention centres, in police stations.

0:06:49.757,0:06:51.059
They are suffering

0:06:51.066,0:06:57.365
from all sorts of physical, emotional,[br]psychological and sexual violence.

0:06:58.253,0:07:03.617
These children are[br]the victims of a cycle of violence.

0:07:03.951,0:07:06.415
They start off fleeing from violence,

0:07:06.419,0:07:10.777
but then they experience it again[br]once they reach European borders.

0:07:12.092,0:07:15.862
They often suffer[br]from the injured hero syndrome.

0:07:16.020,0:07:19.875
You see, they arrived in what they thought[br]would be their promised land,

0:07:19.886,0:07:22.596
where they thought[br]all their troubles would be over,

0:07:22.611,0:07:28.862
only to experience more violence,[br]more insecurity and more abuse.

0:07:29.605,0:07:33.821
The children that arrive at our shelters[br]are often more traumatized

0:07:33.839,0:07:39.274
by what they have experienced[br]after their arrival in Greece, in Europe,

0:07:39.555,0:07:44.923
than what they have endured[br]during their perilous journeys or at home.

0:07:46.941,0:07:49.577
Now I know, I have bombarded you

0:07:49.577,0:07:53.955
with a lot of numbers[br]and a lot of heavy information.

0:07:54.278,0:07:59.649
So, lets pause for a few seconds[br]and ask ourselves:

0:08:00.304,0:08:04.172
What is a child refugee?

0:08:05.643,0:08:10.404
It's a child in urgent need of a refuge.

0:08:10.738,0:08:15.507
It's a child in urgent need of a home.

0:08:16.382,0:08:17.954
At The Home Project,

0:08:18.108,0:08:20.227
we don't work with migrants,

0:08:20.378,0:08:22.528
we don't work with refugees;

0:08:22.543,0:08:24.595
we work with children.

0:08:25.254,0:08:30.625
Children that have been marginalized[br]to the point of invisibility.

0:08:31.608,0:08:38.503
HOME stands for Help, Overcome,[br]Motivate, Empower,

0:08:38.528,0:08:42.421
which is what we do[br]with everyone that we work with.

0:08:42.796,0:08:47.733
Our mission is[br]to support, protect, educate

0:08:47.769,0:08:50.533
and provide social integration services

0:08:50.558,0:08:57.235
to children that travel and arrive[br]in Greece, in Europe, all alone.

0:08:58.203,0:09:02.291
We are currently supporting[br]the operation of five shelters.

0:09:02.540,0:09:04.160
Four of them are for boys

0:09:04.177,0:09:07.991
and one of them is for girls[br]and underage mothers with their babies.

0:09:08.877,0:09:12.550
We also have another[br]five shelters in the making

0:09:12.558,0:09:16.562
that will provide support[br]to a total of 200 children

0:09:16.659,0:09:21.356
and will lead to the creation[br]of more than 110 jobs.

0:09:22.169,0:09:24.591
We are grateful to our founding sponsor,

0:09:24.595,0:09:26.092
the Libra Group,

0:09:26.093,0:09:29.261
that has enabled us,[br]in less than four months,

0:09:29.284,0:09:35.282
to move from inception to set-up,[br]and from set-up to operations,

0:09:35.524,0:09:37.898
proving by our actions

0:09:37.899,0:09:44.003
that solutions do exist,[br]solutions are possible.

0:09:44.962,0:09:48.662
The Home Project shelter model[br]is based on three pillars.

0:09:48.748,0:09:51.552
First of all, through[br]our partners on the ground,

0:09:51.574,0:09:55.201
we provide a holistic network[br]of services for the children

0:09:55.408,0:09:57.238
covering their basic needs,

0:09:57.248,0:10:01.124
such as food, shelter, of course,[br]material provision,

0:10:01.133,0:10:03.490
medical and pharmaceutical support,

0:10:03.502,0:10:05.222
but also anything

0:10:05.247,0:10:10.513
that has to do with legal,[br]psychological and social support.

0:10:10.861,0:10:14.797
All of our children obtain[br]immediate access to education

0:10:14.813,0:10:17.290
and attend school in Greece.

0:10:17.933,0:10:21.139
The second element is that we create jobs.

0:10:21.362,0:10:25.897
We create jobs for Greeks,[br]but also for refugees.

0:10:27.031,0:10:31.413
In order to integrate into any society,[br]people need a home,

0:10:31.420,0:10:33.789
but they also need a job.

0:10:34.333,0:10:38.985
50% of our shelter staff[br]comes from the refugee community,

0:10:39.004,0:10:43.394
providing role models[br]for the children in our shelters.

0:10:43.674,0:10:48.260
The third element is that we add value[br]to the local economy.

0:10:48.641,0:10:52.764
We all know what Greece has suffered[br]after nine years of financial crisis,

0:10:52.977,0:10:57.946
so we find unused, unrented buildings[br]all over the country,

0:10:57.981,0:10:59.486
we renovate them,

0:10:59.506,0:11:01.506
turn them into shelters,

0:11:01.698,0:11:03.082
and pay the rent,

0:11:03.237,0:11:07.237
and the property tax - the infamous ENFIA,[br]for the Greeks in the room -

0:11:07.428,0:11:08.875
to the owners.

0:11:09.095,0:11:13.716
So, what we do, is we create[br]a win-win situation for everyone:

0:11:14.063,0:11:16.533
for the Greeks, the refugees,

0:11:16.537,0:11:20.213
but also for the most vulnerable,[br]for the children.

0:11:20.670,0:11:23.459
We create healing environments,

0:11:23.687,0:11:25.614
platforms of inclusion,

0:11:25.636,0:11:31.075
implementing a more organic,[br]bottom-up form of social integration

0:11:31.085,0:11:33.442
that will lead to community engagement.

0:11:33.872,0:11:35.303
That's the only way

0:11:35.318,0:11:40.912
we can fight xenophobia,[br]racism and violent local reactions.

0:11:41.636,0:11:44.372
Three elements are key in our work.

0:11:44.704,0:11:47.554
The first one is empathy.

0:11:47.797,0:11:49.752
We are in constant contact

0:11:49.767,0:11:53.241
with the children and the adults[br]that we work with,

0:11:53.566,0:11:59.380
but also with our partners on the ground,[br]at the front line of this refugee crisis.

0:11:59.784,0:12:01.531
We must be near them,

0:12:01.537,0:12:05.263
in order to understand[br]their constantly evolving needs

0:12:05.269,0:12:08.073
and address them[br]in the most efficient manner.

0:12:08.920,0:12:11.362
The second element is the creation

0:12:11.367,0:12:15.202
of a positive community of support[br]around these children,

0:12:15.356,0:12:18.284
which is what we are trying[br]to do here, tonight.

0:12:18.654,0:12:22.534
We forge and coordinate[br]effective partnerships

0:12:22.539,0:12:24.855
between all relevant stakeholders:

0:12:24.866,0:12:30.796
NGOs, corporations, private donors,[br]media, public authorities,

0:12:30.803,0:12:34.803
national and international[br]organizations and foundations.

0:12:35.183,0:12:37.616
We act as a solutions platform,

0:12:37.630,0:12:38.913
and a channel

0:12:38.930,0:12:43.762
through which help can address[br]the most urgent needs of the children.

0:12:44.379,0:12:51.093
The third element is[br]efficiency and rapidity of operations.

0:12:51.728,0:12:57.596
Every minute, 12 refugee children[br]are being displaced in the world.

0:12:58.143,0:13:02.475
Every minute we spend[br]turning our backs on this problem

0:13:02.491,0:13:05.906
has a serious toll on human lives.

0:13:06.158,0:13:09.817
We are dealing[br]with a very vulnerable population,

0:13:09.825,0:13:13.695
literally living on the edge.

0:13:15.139,0:13:16.555
Through The Home Project,

0:13:16.556,0:13:19.400
we not only provide a safe home,

0:13:19.416,0:13:26.386
we give a voice to the children,[br]we make them feel visible and validated.

0:13:26.812,0:13:31.063
We might have managed[br]to secure support for 200 children,

0:13:31.075,0:13:36.372
but there are still 1,000[br]that urgently need our help.

0:13:37.632,0:13:39.383
What would you do

0:13:39.405,0:13:42.911
if you had to protect your child's life

0:13:42.933,0:13:47.256
and bombs were falling[br]right next to your house every single day,

0:13:47.476,0:13:52.045
or ISIS wanted to militarize[br]your ten-year-old son,

0:13:52.068,0:13:56.810
or the Taliban wanted to marry[br]your eight-year-old daughter?

0:13:57.307,0:13:59.327
What would you do?

0:14:00.127,0:14:03.949
I am not here tonight to try to shock you,

0:14:04.071,0:14:06.072
or disturb you,

0:14:06.158,0:14:08.020
or make you feel sad.

0:14:08.977,0:14:14.099
I just want to ask you not to look away.

0:14:15.116,0:14:16.868
Not to look away

0:14:16.880,0:14:23.013
and remain passive about the violence[br]that is taking place right next to us.

0:14:23.915,0:14:27.851
These children could be our children.

0:14:28.427,0:14:31.424
These children are tomorrow's future.

0:14:31.879,0:14:34.080
By turning our backs to them,

0:14:34.087,0:14:36.193
it's like giving up on hope,

0:14:36.900,0:14:38.738
giving up on love,

0:14:39.033,0:14:41.726
giving up on a better world.

0:14:42.605,0:14:46.134
In what kind of a world[br]do we want to live?

0:14:46.859,0:14:52.365
In what kind of a world[br]do we want our children to live in?

0:14:52.915,0:14:56.150
There is no more time to be lost.

0:14:56.459,0:14:59.514
We really are on the edge.

0:15:00.766,0:15:04.709
Supporting and empowering these children

0:15:04.725,0:15:08.565
is a daily resistance to violence.

0:15:09.328,0:15:12.375
That is the promise we gave to Hamid.

0:15:12.861,0:15:15.691
That is the promise we give every day

0:15:15.878,0:15:20.558
to Omar, Taha, Osman, Ali,

0:15:20.580,0:15:23.969
Amadou, Mamadou, Diyar,

0:15:23.991,0:15:27.467
and to all the children[br]living in our shelters.

0:15:28.049,0:15:31.153
You can now all do something

0:15:31.172,0:15:35.278
to help these children be visible

0:15:35.292,0:15:37.745
and become what they are,

0:15:38.020,0:15:40.020
children ... again.

0:15:40.275,0:15:41.407
Thank you.

0:15:41.407,0:15:43.443
(Applause)