Nest Global Mexico - Ockenden International

Empowering Asylum-Seekers Through Early Childhood Education and Holistic Support

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John Doe

Designer

What the judges said

The independent panel of experts for its Tijuana-based scheme: ‘Empowering Asylum-Seeking Families through Early Childhood Education and Holistic Support’, a pre-school education project crucial to working parents, particularly single parent refugees trying to earn a living. The judges in particular liked the parenting classes provided “and Nest Global’s rounded approach to education and its role and positive effect on the whole family. Even though it is operational in one of the most violent places on Earth, Nest Tijuana’s education project is literally transforming lives, securing long-term benefits in a place of hope,” the judges said. Government policy changes in the US have made the context even more challenging “but the focus on children’s rights has enabled them to form the stable attachments so important for them in their early years,” they added.

What the families and teachers say

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The other 2025 winners and finalists

Ockenden International’s five cash prizes recognise and reward innovative projects that deliver evidential self-reliance to refugees and/or displaced people, the cornerstone of Ockenden International since its inception as the Ockenden Venture in 1951. The five cash awards are open to projects or programmes focused on Internally Displaced People (IDPs)/refugee self-reliance anywhere in the world. The other eight 2025 global prize contenders (with the other four winners italicised) were:

Alsama Project, UK, won for its ‘Secondary Education Centres’ programs in the Shatila and Bourj el-Barajneh Refugee Camps, Beirut, which support Syrian and Palestinian children refugees living in Lebanon.
Asylum Access, Malaysia, which provides legal aid in a project titled ‘Employment Dispute Program for Refugees in Malaysia (EDP)’ – Community legal empowerment and case management run by both local and refugee EDP team members.
Avocats Sans Frontièrs France, nominated by I Have Rights e.V., Germany, for the ‘Samos Legal Centre’ project, which provides independent and much-needed free legal support to refugees in their quests to obtain the guaranteed right to seek asylum on one of the world’s refugee frontlines, Samos Island, Greece.
Eurocoop Servizi, Italy, ‘Jungi Mundu’ – ‘Join the World’ (in the local Italian dialect), a project based on social entrepreneurship in arts, crafts, gastronomy and hospitality that’s been the salvation of Camini, once an abandoned Calabrian village, as well as its population of refugees.
KASAPI, Greece, which means ‘Unity of Filipino Migrants in Greece' has been nominated by the Melissa Network, for its intercultural centre and associated programs for migrant and refugee children called ‘Munting Nayon’ (Little Village) run by the Filipino community focused on integration of children in the Greek society.
Let’s Be Transformed (MAGUFINA), Malawi, nominated by AREDO (Ability of Refugee Disability Organization) Malawi, for the project ‘Transforming Lives Through Technology: Mobile Phone Repair Training and Enterprise Development Program for Refugees with Disabilities’.
Terre des Hommes Foundation Moldova's project ‘Addressing basic needs and improving resilience of children, youth, and mothers affected by the Ukrainian refugee crisis living in Moldova’, whose primary goal is to reduce vulnerability and enhance resilience among children, youth, and mothers affected by the Ukrainian refugee crisis in Moldova, including the most vulnerable members of host communities, by providing individualized support and broader assistance in collaboration with local actors.
TUMO Center for Creative Technologies (Armenia) for its comprehensive educational empowerment, mentorship and post-war rehabilitation project called ‘TUMO for Artsakh Teens (T4AT)’, for the children of displaced families from Nagorno Karabakh following the forced displacement of its Armenian population in September 2023.

The three organizations (in alphabetical order) and their projects, short listed for new UK Prize, were:

Happy Baby Community (HBC), Greater London (and Crawley, Surrey), won for its ‘Starting Well’ project for pregnant women and mothers with children under three-years of age who have fled war, violence and trafficking to seek asylum in the UK..
Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Refugee Forum, UK’s ‘Voices of Refuge’ project, an ethical interpreting company. It trains refugees and asylum seekers all over the world, who have English language knowledge, in basic interpreting skills. It provides well paid, supported and trained interpreters to service providers for refugees and other vulnerable migrants in the East Midlands and beyond. It provides employment opportunities within those communities and helps people into work. Voices in Refuge is a CIC wholly owned by Nottingham Refugee Forum, which provides a wide range of services to refugees and asylum seekers, and any profits made go straight from its interpreting business, go straight back into those services.
Refugee Education UK, in partnership with Student Action for Refugees, a country-wide online project entitled ‘The Displaced Students' Opportunities Portal’, a single portal for university scholarships and placements which helps refugees rebuild their lives through higher education by providing easy access to accurate information, guidance and opportunities for progression to and pathways through higher education.