Enabling Freedom supports North Korean people living in the UK to gain the skills and qualifications they need to access better careers — and choose the lives they want to live.
The education that many North Korean people receive growing up leaves them unable to participate in the job market once they have escaped. A lack of qualifications, language and job skills, lack of confidence, and mental health problems are all factors that contribute to escaped North Korean people feeling unable to improve this situation.
Once they arrive in their new home, they often become trapped in low-paid work and the possibility of finding the fees, or the time, to study and better their situation, is slim or non-existent. This means many North Korean people manage to escape a life of oppression in North Korea, only to find themselves achieving far below their potential and remaining trapped in a cycle of subsistence.
Enabling Freedom supports North Korean people living in the UK to gain the skills and qualifications, and develop the confidence, they need to access types of work that would otherwise be unavailable to them.
The Enabling Freedom programme provides escaped North Korean people with the holistic educational, well-being, and financial support they need to gain recognised vocational and professional qualifications. This allows them the opportunity to pursue their dreams, and choose the lives they want to live.
We conduct in-depth research into the lived experiences of North Korean people and the barriers they face in accessing education. This year, our team published “Policy Note: Understanding Barriers to Education for North Korean Young People in the UK,” which can be downloaded below.
Our findings on the experiences and needs of North Korean people building new lives.
Individuals supported through Enabling Freedom have gone on to retrain, gain employment, and re-enter education — often after long periods of uncertainty.
Your gift funds the tuition, qualifications and support that turn potential into opportunity.
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