Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Addressing Barriers for Marginalized Immigrants and Refugees
On February 20th, ACTEW joined workers, clients and volunteers of community agencies serving immigrants and refugees in Toronto at a forum designed and held by the Advisory Committee of Access to Services for Socially Marginalized Immigrants and Refugees with the support of St. Christopher House. The event objectives were to name the issues for marginalized immigrants and refugees, particularly related to accessibility of services, and to bridge the work done by various service-providers to address these issues.
Eight recommendations resulting from the forum are now available, the foremost of which is to develop a coalition to "address poverty, racial discrimination, oppressive practices, systemic barriers and access to services barriers" for marginalized immigrants and refugees. Other recommendations included involving government to develop helpful policy and coordinate services, mapping service access points for targeted groups, collaborations between established agencies and new organizations, strategic funding approaches and settlement sector information sharing.
This initiative is important to employment and training agencies serving newcomers.
Agencies wanting to learn more about the Access to Services for Socially Marginalized Immigrants and Refugees recommendations and to participate in future meetings for this initiative are invited to contact Mahassen Mahmoud at mahassenma@stchristhouse.org.
Eight recommendations resulting from the forum are now available, the foremost of which is to develop a coalition to "address poverty, racial discrimination, oppressive practices, systemic barriers and access to services barriers" for marginalized immigrants and refugees. Other recommendations included involving government to develop helpful policy and coordinate services, mapping service access points for targeted groups, collaborations between established agencies and new organizations, strategic funding approaches and settlement sector information sharing.
This initiative is important to employment and training agencies serving newcomers.
- Newer immigrants of both sexes are facing greater difficulties getting work and securing stable, well-paying positions than previous generations and unemployment rates among ethno-racial groups vary dramatically, from as high as 35% to as low as 2.5%.
Immigrant women identify access to suitable employment as a key issue in their lives: many are underemployed and most work in field other than that in which they are trained.
The vast majority of home-workers and contract shop employees in Canada's garment industry are immigrant women of colour. This sector is unregulated with very low pay, irregular work, and no option for benefits.
Domestic workers are almost exclusively immigrant women. Often living in the homes of their employers, they are particularly vulnerable to economic exploitation and human rights abuses.
Agencies wanting to learn more about the Access to Services for Socially Marginalized Immigrants and Refugees recommendations and to participate in future meetings for this initiative are invited to contact Mahassen Mahmoud at mahassenma@stchristhouse.org.
Labels: Issues_and_Trends, Meetings_and_Events
