Refugee Council Training & Conferences

REFUGEE COUNCIL TRAINING & CONFERENCES

Key issues in asylum
New summer date announced: 7 August in London
Hopefully the pace in your office is slowing a little as people take their summer holidays, giving you time to get round to those jobs you’ve been meaning to do for ages. Maybe you want to take this chance to pick up some new skills? In which case why not come along to our introductory course, 'Key issues in asylum', which covers the 2006 Immigration and Nationality Bill and the New Asylum Model.

Building Communities: equality and diversity in action
Leeds, 7 November 2007
London, 28 November 2007
With the recent publication of the Commission on Integration and Cohesion’s report 'Our shared future' and the launch in October 2007 of the Commission for Equality and Human Rights, these important and timely conferences seek to clarify the legislative background to refugee integration and examine current policy and practice in this area. http://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/eventsandtraining/conferences/buildingcommunities.htm

Refugee Council Policy Briefing

Updated Policy Publication:

Right to work : Social Exclusion, Refugee Integration, and the Right to Work for Asylum Seekers [July 2007] http://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/policy/briefings/2007/righttowork.htm

Iraqi Refugees

From Refugees International:

Iraqi Refugees: Time for the UN System to Fully Engage

"There is not enough attention on the fact that four million people have been displaced and they live in very, very difficult circumstances, some of them, both inside Iraq and outside Iraq."
- Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, April 17, 2007

Despite these words from the Secretary General, the United Nations has yet to respond adequately to the Iraqi refugee crisis. The UN regional response remains weak, and while the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) plays an increasingly positive role, other UN agencies have failed to be proactive in their response to the crisis. Coordination between agencies is inadequate, and leadership from UN Resident Representatives on the issue of Iraqi refugees has also been lacking. The UN as a whole must put the Secretary General's words into action in the near future and exert the political and operational will to respond in a coordinated and effective manner to their needs.

Download a full PDFcopy of this policy recommendation.

Asylum Seekers from Nepal

UNHCR's Position on the International Protection Needs of Asylum-Seekers from Nepal July 2007 is now available via Refworld at:

http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/refworld/rwmain?docid=46af032d2

Women and Asylum

The Information Centre about Asylum and Refugees in the UK (ICAR) has just released a new briefing paper entitled Women Refugees and Asylum Seekers in the UK. This briefing paper is available to download from the ICAR website and further details can be found at:

Web: http://www.icar.org.uk/briefings_womens

ICAR state that "This briefing addresses four key issues relating to refugee women: the introduction of gender guidelines, female genital mutilation (FGM), the trafficking of women and women in detention. The briefing aims to complement ICAR’s Navigation Guide on Women Asylum Seekers and Refugees in the UK, which provides a broader overview of this subject."

ECOI.net

ECOI.net is an online resource which provides up-to-date and publicly available country of origin information with a special focus on the needs of asylum lawyers, refugee counsels and persons deciding on claims for asylum and other forms of international protection. Access to information is facilitated by a comprehensive search tool and Topics & Issues files, offering thematically structured information on asylum-relevant topics and issues for a set of focus countries.

Web: http://www.ecoi.net/

New WTYL Digest

The latest Welcome To Your Library (WTYL) Digest has just been mailed by Helen Carpenter and John Vincent. Details of how to subscribe to their regular emails can be found on the WTYL Jiscmail pages. The WTYL website is available at: http://www.welcometoyourlibrary.org.uk and information from the latest posting is included below:

Dear All

This digest has been compiled by Helen Carpenter (Welcome to Your Library) and John Vincent (The Network). To send a message to all subscribers e-mail wtyl@jiscmail.ac.uk. To contact Helen Carpenter and/or John Vincent use e-mail addresses at the end of this digest

WTYL News

Refugee scheme scoops second award
http://www.camden.gov.uk/ccm/content/press/2007/june/refugee-scheme-scoops-second-award.en;jsessionid=2F4330FB3B10EDC346CCFB7F843CE896.node1
The London Borough of Camden library scheme that helps refugees improve their skills, confidence and job prospects has won a second national award. The refugees work experience project has so far trained 32 refugees as library service assistants. It was chosen from schemes across the country to win the organisational change award in the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) Diversity Awards 2007. See weblink above for more information.

Note from HC: warmest congratulations to Helen Pollock helen.pollock@camden.gov.uk and everyone who has participated or been involved in some way.

WTYL Survey

Very many thanks to those of you who have completed the survey - if you haven't yet returned it, please could you let JV (john@nadder.org.uk) have back your completed survey asap? (If the email with your survey didn't arrive, please contact JV and he will send another!).

Conferences

Building Communities: equality and diversity in action
Leeds 7 November 2007

London 28 November 2007

With the recent publication of the Commission on Integration and Cohesion's report Our shared future and the launch in October 2007 of the Commission for Equality and Human Rights, these Refugee Council conferences seek to clarify the legislative background to refugee integration and examine current policy and practice in this area, establishing it both as a critical; issue in its own right and as an essential element within the wider context of equality, community cohesion and integration. The conferences will examine the needs of refugees and asylum seekers as a distinct group, in terms of:

• The focus of the new Commission on Equality and Human Rights
• Existing frameworks for race, equalities and immigration
• Post-16 education and employment
• Access to services
• Links between refugee integration and community cohesion

Further information, including speakers and a preliminary programme will be available soon from www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/speakers

Diverse Britain 2007: Promoting Race Equality

http://www.neilstewartassociates.com/re103/
Mon 10 and Tue 11 December 2007, QEII Conference Centre, London
Following last year's hugely successful CRE Race Convention, "Diverse Britain" will be the landmark event in the UK on race equality. It will be invaluable for professionals, managers and campaigners with a role in equality and social justice.

This event provides a unique forum to examine the challenges and most effective measures in building race equality. It will celebrate the diversity that contributes to give Britain a leading edge in the worlds of government, business, sport and the arts. See weblink above for more information.

Resources

Updated resources for women asylum seekers
http://www.asylumaid.org.uk/Press%20statements/gender_guidance_campaign.htm
The Refugee Women's Resource Project has produced a leaflet directed at asylum-seeking women which explains the Home Office policy for deciding women's asylum claims. This is available to download from the weblink above in English, Amharic, Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, French, Pashto, Somali, Turkish, Tigrinya, Urdu and Vietnamese. An audio CD for training and awareness-raising purposes is also available (free), covering the Home Office policy for deciding women’s asylum claims and the consequences if this policy is not followed. The six tracks can each be used individually (15 minutes total). The CD is in English only. See weblink for more information about what it covers or e-mail women@asylumaid.org.uk

The Paul Hamlyn Foundation Evaluation Resource Pack
http://www.phf.org.uk/news.asp?id=172
This pack by Jane Thompson, published by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation in association with the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education, is intended for staff and volunteers in the voluntary sector to help with evaluating their work. It considers the different types of evaluation that can take place with a particular focus on participatory forms of evaluation, and what types of evidence can be used. Price £12.50 - see weblink above for more information and how to order a copy.

Diversity Works for London website
http://www.diversityworksforlondon.com/
Website includes useful basic facts and figures about diversity in London and tools to help organisations ensure that it isn't the responsibility of one person to manage diversity effectively. Whilst the site is intended to support business to engage with diverse communities in London, the tools on the site are applicable anywhere, and include, for example, a guide to writing a diversity strategy.

Background reading

Guidance on the duty to promote community cohesion
http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/wholeschool/Communitycohesion/Community_cohesion_case_studies/
(Source: www.irr.org.uk)
The Department for Children, Schools and Families has published guidance on the duty to promote community cohesion. The link above is to a series of case studies and there is a link to the actual guidance at the bottom of the page. Although this relates specifically to schools, there are opportunities for public libraries to link in and contribute to this work in partnership with their local schools.

Note from HC: ...and finally, in case you missed this when it was first published, as I did

Localism, governance and the public realm: issues for the local cultural sector
http://www.mla.gov.uk/resources/assets//L/localism_governance_public_realm_11107.pdf
The MLA commissioned the report Localism, Governance and the Public Realm from Kevin Harris (see www.local-level.org.uk) to look at culture in the context of civil renewal, community cohesion and localism and governance. Through a variety of interviews with museum, library and archive professionals already delivering against these agendas and policy analysts, the report shows that the cultural sector can play a vital part in engaging citizens in civic life at the local level.

Best wishes

Helen Carpenter John Vincent
Project Co-ordinator The Network
Welcome To Your Library t/f: 0845 128 4897
t/f: 020 7641 5266 e: john@nadder.org.uk
e: helen.carpenter@llda.org.uk w: www.seapn.org.uk
w: http://www.welcometoyourlibrary.org.uk