Spark15

About us

Spark15 was born in 2015 when UNHCR Malta organised a seminar as part of the Global Youth Consultations. During the seminar, a young group of refugees who had formed friendships while attending MCAST (the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology), decided to start advocating for youth issues affecting the refugee community. Following the seminar, the group was officially formed to encourage other young refugees to become active participants and agents of inclusive societies in Malta and beyond. The organisation was officially inaugurated on Friday, 17th March 2017, at the President’s Palace at San Anton Gardens, with an opening speech given by the President of Malta Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca.

Our Vision
Refugee youth is welcomed and included in the Maltese society and are able to live in dignity and have opportunities to develop themselves in order to contribute to society.

Our Mission
SPARK15’s mission is to provide the necessary information, education and training to refugee youth and undertake other actions for their successful integration into Maltese society.

What we do
• Advocacy: Spark15 supports and collaborates with organisations including UNHCR, JRS, Integra Foundation in order to ensure that asylum seekers and refugees have access to their basic rights in terms of national and international law. Spark15 does not have the capacity to provide legal services to Persons of Concern (PoCs) in detention and open centres, therefore we refer people who seek support, information and legal services to relevant organisations.
• Education: Spark15’s current projects include free English and Digital Literacy classes in collaboration with the University of Malta and the ‘Where to Project’
• Sports: Sports have been a central part of Spark15’s integration work. We have taken part in several sports activities over the years but football has been the most popular of all for the refugee youth. Spark15 also organises football tournaments each year. Young refugees get the opportunity to train twice a week together, play with other teams in Malta and socialise with people from different backgrounds.
• Social activities: On regular basis, Spark15 organises get-togethers where refugees, immigrants, civil society, personalities and other stakeholders meet around a topic (generally a talk) and socialise. Our social activities are open to everyone including other NGOs. Naturally, these get-togethers also serve as networking sessions not just for Spark15 but also for anyone who attended. Over the years we organised the following talks: Talk by Alarmphone introducing themselves to the refugee community; Talk on Spark15’s higher education programme to encourage young refugees to consider going to University; Talk on human rights by the Integra foundation; An informative talk on employment opportunities by JRS; Motivational talk by Nathan Farrugia; Educational talk on public speaking by Nicole Bugeja

Paul Galea is the Secretary of the Board and Administration officer of Spark 15.

For other net participants we can offer an expert guidance through trained staff, give an expert opinion, procure expert information and establish new contacts in the field of our work.