‘Survivors, Protectors and Providers’

Dialogues with displaced women and girls around the world, in preparation for the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Refugee Convention

A partnership project between Centre for Refugee Research at the University of New South Wales and UNHCR

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, works in partnership with the Centre for Refugee Research (CRR) to conduct a series of regional dialogues that will give refugee internally displaced person (IDP) and stateless women an opportunity to influence the decisions which affect their lives. ANCORW supports this project, which is part of the commemoration activities for the 60th anniversary of the Refugee Convention.

Dialogues were held in 7 locations around the world between December and May 2011 namely Delhi, Colombia, Jordan, Uganda, Zambia, Finland and Thailand. These dialogues seek to understand the key problems faced by displaced women and girls, what support is available to them, and what further support is needed. Women representatives from such dialogues attended high-level meetings at UNHCR in June and July 2011. The project played an important role in enabling refugee women to contribute what they would like to see governments pledging, at the ministerial-level meetings of state parties, to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention held in December 2011. These pledges were part of the UN commemoration activities for the 60th anniversary of the Refugee Convention.

More information can be found at UNHCR and in a blog article, about the progress of such dialogues.

Dialogues with women and girls from refugee backgrounds in Australia

In this project, a series of ‘dialogues’ with women from refugee background living in Australia provided a forum for them to share their concerns, aspirations, and ideas to improve the lives of refugee women and girls, both in Australia and around the world. Local community groups and organisations have hosted a dialogue with groups of refugee women in their local area from March – May 2011. These culminated in a National Women’s Dialogue as part of the 2011 Refugee Conference held at University of New South Wales in Sydney on June 14th, 2011.

Why We Need A Women’s Dialogue in Australia
Refugee women and girls face various complex challenges compared to refugee men or other migrant women. Entrenched disadvantage follows such women to Australia while leadership and participation opportunities are limited. However, men are considered as leaders and spokespersons of communities. The dialogues project acknowledges and engages the capacity of women to discuss and identify solutions for issues which affect their lives and the lives of other refugee women and girls. The project will increase participation of such refugee women and girls in the community by developing appropriate skills, imparting knowledge, boosting confidence, creating opportunities for significant participation and advocacy at local and international avenues.

Background To The Women’s Dialogues Project
The Australian Women’s Dialogues is a parallel event to the International Women’s Dialogues being conducted by Centre for Refugee Research (CRR) in partnership with UNHCR. The concept for a series of Australian dialogues was proposed by ANCORW, CRR, and a group of refugee women and advocates who are keen to engage the knowledge of resettled women in a similar process to the International Women’s Dialogues. A steering committee of ANCORW members, refugee women, service providers and advocates is leading the project and providing pro bono support to this important initiative.

What will the dialogues achieve
The project provides a platform for association between refugee women, service providers and policy makers. This will enhance inclusion, capacity and opportunity for women to advocate at local, national and international levels. The project will strengthen confidence and skills of refugee women via active roles in organising and documenting the dialogues and developing advocacy plans.

The outcomes and recommendations of the Women’s Dialogues Project will contribute to understanding the experiences and needs of refugee women and girls in Australia and in a refugee setting. They will be presented and utilized in a range of advocacy strategies in Australia and at international meetings of UNHCR. Significantly, the project enables the voice of refugee women to be heard at local, international, policy and service provision centres. The steering committee of this project includes members and representatives from ANCORW, CRR, Refugee Council of Australia, Auburn Diversity Services, Services for the Treatment of Survivors of Torture and Trauma and Townsville MSG.

Information about the dialogues is available here

If you are interested to host a dialogue with women from refugee background in your area, then please download and return this completed information sheet and expression of interest form to [email protected] or [email protected]

International advocacy – ANCORW at UNHCR

Every year, ANCORW organizes delegates travel to Geneva as part of the Australian advocacy team to the annual consultations of the High Commissioner for Refugees with the non government sector at UNHCR Geneva. ANCORW raises funds to enable women resettled in Australia to attend these important international meetings in order to advocate for the needs of their communities and rest of the refugee women.

The ANCORW delegates attend as part of the Australian Refugee Rights Alliance (ARRA) and work in close association with ARRA colleagues to present a coordinated advocacy strategy. ANCORW delegates were pleased to meet with top level representatives from UNHCR and USA with the help of professional associates of its member, and played a prominent role in those meetings.

Aguil, Nava, Melika and Tenneh at United Nations Geneva

ANCORW supports training and funding for grass roots refugee women’s organisations

At the international level, ANCORW works with Centre for Refugee Research (CRR), through its international student internships to support the work of grass roots refugee women’s organisations and communities on the Thai-Burma Border and in India. CRR and ANCORW provide a range of training programs and raise funds to support the livelihood programs of grass roots refugee women's organisation on request. The livelihood programs provide services to women who have experienced violence and rape as they strive to support their families.

Developing Education Resources : “Realising Refugee Rights: Refugees in Regional Areas in Australia”

“We got our life back”
(Resettled refugees speaking about life in Australia)

With funding support from the Mary Potter Foundation, ANCORW in partnership with the Centre for Refugee Research (CRR) has developed a series of community education resources focused on refugee settlement in regional areas. The involvement of refugee communities in settlement planning and service provision is critical. Yet, settlement services are often planned independently of the resettling refugees who are at the receiving end of these services. Working in partnership with refugee communities, settlement providers and volunteer groups across two states, this project has addressed this knowledge gap and worked towards the inclusion of refugee voice in settlement planning by developing a resource which not only strengthens settlement support responses but which showcases the excellent work already being done within regional areas to support the successful settlement of refugee communities.

The final outcome includes a booklet containing settlement stories of refugee and service providers along with a book of ‘storyboards’ that includes pictures depicting services, challenges and successes of regional settlement, developed by resettled refugees. The resource was launched in September 2010, and will be available from the CRR website at www.crr.unsw.edu.au.

Improving settlement for refugee women - "Refugee Women at Risk: Protection and Integration in Australia"

In partnership with the Centre for Refugee Research (CRR), ANCORW has undertaken research to explore the settlement experiences of refugee women at risk in Australia, funded as part of an Australian Research Council Linkage project grant.

CRR and ANCORW have worked with resettled women and service providers to identify a series of responses to their protection concerns. The project has identified a series of risks for refugee women and their families during settlement. The research has shown clear links between women’s pre arrival experiences of risk and post arrival settlement concerns. The findings of research also show that, despite a strong commitment from services to responding to the needs of women at risk, there remains a gap in knowledge and understanding of both the women at risk program and the resulting settlement challenges for women. In addition to that, there is an absence of effective identification and response tool for addressing risks in resettlement.

The findings from this project have been presented at a number of national and international conferences and at the annual UNHCR consultations with NGOs in Geneva. As the current ARC (Action for the Rights of Children) is in its final stages, the research team has submitted an application to ARC to extend the project to the next phase, and to further develop the risk assessment tool in order to recommend an evidence-based policy response to support women at risk in their settlement. Unfortunately this application was unsuccessful, and ANCORW and its partners are considering other alternatives to complete this significant work.

Improving settlement for refugee families – working with communities and service providers to address family conflict and breakdown

In recent projects of ANCORW and the Centre for Refugee Research (CRR), issues of family conflict, violence and separation in settlement have arisen as amongst the most pressing and painful problems being experienced by refugee families and communities settling in Australia. Family issues are exacerbated by other challenges faced by new arrivals, such as inadequate and overcrowded housing, language difficulties, unemployment, financial stress, and the stress of adjusting to new physical and social systems etc. Conversely, familial conflicts contribute to the social, financial, housing and emotional pressures on resettling families, and adversely impacts physical and mental health along with education and employment. All these issues negatively impact refugee communities, refugee service providers and the broader community.

In 2010 ANCORW and CRR initiated a project, in partnership with AMES in Victoria and Relationships Australia in NSW, to explore challenges for refugee families and identify ways to improve family settlement outcomes. Community development-based staff and community consultants explored family issues and identified a range of strategies to address problems, including small practical projects that could be implemented by the service or by refugee community organisations. The experience and understanding of rights in Australia and Child Protection helped to identify and explore the target family issues.

The consultations outcome and list of strategies suggested by staff and community members highlighted the correlation between family issues and other settlement challenges. Family problems cannot be separated from the range of settlement stressors and precipitants of family conflict. For this reason, a holistic approach to the problems within refugee families is necessary to ensure good outcomes for family members, and for the wider community. The reports from these consultations and recommendations for future action are posted on the CRR website after an approval from participants in the consultations.

The next step includes developing one or more of the suggested strategies to address family conflict, pending approval by the partner organisations. And further, submitting an application for additional funding to support more work in this essential area.

Developing education resources –“Celebration of refugee lives: stories of strength and resilience”

October 2009 saw the launch of a new educational resource toolkit developed by the Centre for Refugee Research (CRR), in partnership with ANCORW along with the financial support of the Ian Potter Foundation. The toolkit highlights the inspiring contributions and successes of refugees settling in Australia. It includes a film, a book of settlement stories of refugees and a short training program. The material was designed as a community educational resource to enhance the understanding of refugee experiences and to dispel the often damaging myths which impact upon resettling groups. The package is available through the CRR shop.

Filming "Celebrating Refugee Lives"