Spring 2019 Leila Jaffar has been commissioned by the European Asylum Office EASO in Malta to participate in the project team tasked with developing a new training module for staff at refugee hotspots.

Jaffar Consultancy has been asked by EASO to work on the parts dealing with intercultural communication, non-verbal communication and conflict management as parts of  a comprehensive training for staff members of EU countries working at the various hotspots for refugees in the Mediterranean region. In 2016 these hotspots were created by the EU to function as first ports of embarkment for refugees who have crossed the Mediterranean in order to ask for asylum in the EU area.

The training is geared towards effectively providing first information about EU policies to refugees who have just embarked and set foot on European soil. Finding effective ways of providing information to and communicating with different groups of refugees is a daunting task.

Leila was selected as an expert in the field of intercultural communication by EASO after a procurement procedure in 2015. This means that Leila has met the rigorous EASO qualifications to be hired by EASO in order to develop training materials and provide workshops and training for it's staff..

In the spring of 2015 Leila gave a two-day workshop for EASO in Malta, which was very well received by the attendees and prompted a second run of workshops in May and November of 2016 and a further round this year. Jaffar Consultancy was also involved in the development of EASO traning material and an e-learning module for EASO staf earlier this year.

Jaffar Consultancy has extensive experience in developing and giving trainings and workshops on various aspects of Intercultural Communication, conflict resolution and working with involuntary clients. Jaffar Comsultancy also has an in depth knowledge of Middle Eastern nationalities. This is highly relevant for EASO's work, in light of the current massive influx of refugees from the Middle East into Europe.