Young Iraqi refugees in Syria learn new skills and improve their chances to find work through a Danish Refugee Council project. The project enables young refugees to work as electricians and in other trades through the project in Damascus.

For young Iraqis who have fled to Syria, refugee life is only seldom opening doors to better education and good jobs. They often have to struggle to make a living, and are forced to take on jobs that can bring in money for the survival of the family. Working hard in low paid jobs, the young Iraqi refugees cannot afford to spend time on dreams of returning to school.

- We saw the Iraqi children were dropping out of schools, says Olivier Beucher who is head of the Danish Refugee Council in Syria. To keep them in, we started the remedial classes. And if you look at the marks of the children in these classes you see a huge improvement, Olivier Beucher tells UNICEF who have funded the project.

A Danish Refugee Council project in Syrian has been successful in targeting some of the young Iraqis who have dropped out of school. The project is funded by UNICEF and offers vocational training to Iraqi boys and girls living in Damascus.

- The project is a part of the effort to offer fair opportunities for a large group of children. Whether the Iraqi children stay in Syria or will be returning to Iraq, their education remain crucial, says programme coordinator Christian Jacob Hansen from the Danish Refugee Council in Copenhagen.

The Danish Refugee Council is one of few foreign aid organisations who have been granted permission by local authorities to run projects in support of Iraqi refugees living in Syria. Through a network of local centres Danish Refugee Council offer a number of projects in support of Iraqi refugees.

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