Join us at our conference on 3 November
Diverse perspectives, speakers and workshops about refugee women
With the conference now just over a week away I am delighted (and relieved! ) to say that all of the contributors have been confirmed. 24 in all – they are a diverse group. Delegates can certainly expect to hear quite divergent perspectives on the issues impacting refugee women.
A quick scan down the names shows representatives from the legal sector, politics, academia, health, local authority as well as many of our voluntary sector colleagues. Even the five main speakers come from a broad range of backgrounds.
In my previous blog I announced that Nicola Sturgeon, Deputy First Minister would be speaking in the morning, alongside our Chief Executive, John Wilkes and Frances Nicholson, senior regional legal officer and ‘gender lead’ for the UN’s refugee agency.
Our other two speakers will be Emma Churchill, Director of Asylum for the UK Border Agency and Ahlam Souidi, a representative of the Refugee Women’s Strategy Group – an organisation unique in the UK.
And Dr Rowena Arshad of Edinburgh University will take on the mighty task of chairing the morning’s discussions.
A variety of thought provoking workshops to choose from
With ten participative workshops in total to choose from, there is a wealth of excellent options– as many of you have already commented.
Quality in women’s asylum cases and barriers to employment for refugee women
In the first session, Amanda Gray of UNHCR London will facilitate a discussion around the quality of decisions made in women’s asylum cases, and the border agency’s attempts to improve them. Running concurrently will be, key findings from the report by the Refugee Women’s Strategy Group on barriers faced by refugee women trying to find employment.
Interpreters – working with women who have experienced violence
Representatives of the Glasgow Violence Against Women Partnership will also be looking at tips when using an interpreter to work with a woman who has experienced violence.
FGM and Socio-cultural context
Three facilitators from the Dignity Alert and Research Forum will discuss the divisive issue of female genital mutilation (FGM), within its socio-cultural context.
Asylum options
The final option for the first session is a workshop on asylum support options for asylum seeking and refused asylum seeking women by the Asylum Support Appeals Project.
Need for gender experts on refugee nationalities
The second set of workshops offers diverse topics and expert facilitators. A representative from Engender will partner with colleagues from Umoja Inc to discuss the need for there to be gender experts on refugee nationalities.
Key issues facing refugee women
Our own research officer and women’s policy officer will describe key issues facing women in the asylum process and present findings from our integration research.
Cultural sensitivity and women who have survived violence
Dr Anne Douglas, team leader of the mental health service for refugees, the Compass team, will describe the need for cultural sensitivity when working with female survivors of violence.
Needs of young refugee women
The needs of young refugee women, aged 18 -25 will be examined by Kirsty Thomson of Legal Services Agency and our Children’s Policy Officer.
Family returns process
The final workshop will be facilitated by the UK Border Agency and will address their new family returns process.
Join us in raising refugee women’s voices
The conference will close with a plenary panel discussion with representatives from Maternity Action, Refugee Council, Asylum Aid and Scottish Refugee Council who will bring together the many strands of the day.
My prediction for the final discussion is that it will also be a call to arms for all participants to use what they have learned in improving the support of refugee women in Scotland.
I hope very much that you can join us at Hamden in Glasgow on Thursday 3 November.
