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How do migrant youth deal with living inside and between two cultures?

Young people make up a significant percentage of international migrants and an increasing proportion of today’s urban populations. Yet, a recent UNFPA report laments that relatively little is known about the young migrant experience: “Young people remain largely invisible in research, public debates and policy about international migration.”

On December 1, 2009, join Cities of Migration for an open 60-minute webinar on projects from Oldham, Paris, London and Lisbon that looks at the active participation of young people in community development and their views on identity and belonging

Meet Raja Miah, Director, Peacemaker and learn about how this Manchester-based organization works with young people from different communities and ethnicities to help formerly deeply segregated communities move towards a new, integrated “commonsense vision of Britishness.”

Marion Vargaftig, of Manifesta (London), will describe the Belonging project (Manifesta)a transnational initiative that uses intercultural dialogue and video to explore identity and belonging in London/Newham, Lisbon suburb/Casal da Boba and Paris/20th arrondissement.

Florence Laufer, UN AoC, will frame the discussion with opening remarks on the youth project PLURAL+ and tell us why the UN Alliance of Civilizations has developed special youth programming; Helen Walsh, Executive Director, Diaspora Dialogues (Toronto) will launch the Q&A.

Requirements: To participate, you will need a computer with internet access and a landline telephone, not a mobile.

For more information, contact citiesofmigration@maytree.com

Speakers

Florence Laufer
Migration/Integration program officer, United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAoC)

Florence Laufer is the Migration/Integration program officer for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAoC). In this field, the UNAoC challenges polarization by addressing intercultural tensions in cooperation with migrant populations - those exposed to divisive issues on a daily basis. The UNAoC will launch soon an online Migration/Integration clearinghouse, promoting good practices as tools to build cultures of inclusiveness and social cohesion.

After working for a non-profit organization on the integration of migrants and on asylum seekers’ rights in Switzerland, Florence Laufer managed development programs and emergency response in the Middle East. She developed several projects building bridges across cultural differences, acting as a mediator in the negotiation and implementation of the activities.

Florence Laufer has studied Human Geography in the University of Geneva, focusing on Cultural and Migration Geography.

Marion Vargaftig
Founder and Co-director, Manifesta

Marion Vargaftig is founder and co-director of Manifesta, leading/producing European programmes and media initiatives. Her expertise is in developing projects associating media and culture as a catalyst for social change. Marion has a particular interest in putting youth and other marginalised voices (migrants, refugees, cultural and ethnic minorities) centre stage, using video as a trigger for creative expression and providing multiple platforms for these voices to be heard.

Recent projects include:-
- Video ART (Anti-Racist Trails) Postcards - uncovering sites related to historical racism in the West India Docks area of London and interpreting this heritage creatively;
- the trans-national initiative Belonging, working with mixed group of urban youth in London, Paris and Lisbon and exploring their own sense of belonging (43 short films available for viewing on www.manifesta.org.uk and on project partner’s Runnymede, www.runnymedetrust.org;

Marion is also European Consultant and Media advisor; since 2003, she has advised the European Cultural Foundation, on www.theoneminutesjr.org and more recently www.strangerfestival.com; she has also worked on Media and Minorities/ Diversity in Europe, having previously led research projects leading to publications including with/for UNESCO and the Council of Europe.

Contact: marion@manifesta.org.uk

Raja Miah, MBE
Former Chief Executive, PeaceMaker
Raja Miah has been leading PeaceMaker’s work since 1997. First developed to tackle local issues in Oldham, PeaceMaker soon found itself supporting the government in responding to issues of community conflict across the country.

Raja’s experience through PeaceMaker has helped inform and develop the community cohesion agenda. In particular, Raja has supported in the development of practice with children and young people, helping them to find long-term solutions to issues of community conflict and equipping them with the skills necessary to challenge and overcome prejudice, both their own and that of the communities where they lead their lives.

Raja has led PeaceMaker to become recognised by the government as a lead organisation in developing the Community Cohesion agenda.

At CoM we know that even the best stories can’t compete with with pictures!  Which is why the CoM newsletter has been asking you to share the photos and images that show integration in action.

Ulrich K. , from Gütersloh, Germany, shared one of his favourites with us, calling it ”one of the best photo to show how labour integration of migrants and their offspring succeed.”

The photo shows the U 21 soccer team of Germany, right after they recently won the European Championship in Sweden.  The team includes 12 players with migrant background (out of 22) - this means that one of their parents are not born in Germany.

At CoM we’re big fans of the role that professional and recreational sports has in helping to really make integration happen, if you haven’t yet, check out Hockey Night In Punjabi! from Calgary or Buntkickgut! from Munich.   And keep sending us your pictures and images!

The Mentoring to Placement for Environmental Professional (M2P) program is the latest Good Idea that we are watching.   M2P is a bridge training program for Canadian newcomers who are internationally trained environment professionals.

The program is being led by the Toronto Regional Conservationa Authority (TRCA) and the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration.

“Mentoring provides the participant with access to professional networks, helps improve their communication skills, provides them with labor market information and helps them make more informed choices about employment” saysTRCA’s Marisa Iorfida -Sdao, senior project manager, volunteerism and diveristy.

The program includes three components: a mentoring placement that pairs newcomers with professionals in their field for up to six months; technical and soft skills workshops specific to their profession and a three to 12 month paid work placement with a host organisation.

Since both mentoring and Good Ideas are a two way relationship, M2P also helps host organisations promote more inclusive work environments and attract talent that can give them a competitive edge in a diverse and global economy, Iorfida-Sdao notes, “Newcomers can help Canadian companies effectively compete in a global economy. (This program) also helps them fill labor gaps.”

CoM will be following the results of this promising program but to find out more or submit an application see: M2P APPLICATIONS.

Cities of Migration has a special interest in promoting positive and meaningful stories about migration and its impact on the communities and cities we live in. We like to say we are ‘mainstreaming’ integration, or building public awareness of how integration happens all around us, all the time -at home, at work, in schools, in the media.

We pay attention to the positive (or negative) impact of the language, messages and images that are used to represent integration issues.

At last month’s International Metropolis conference, the subject of “undocumented” or “irregular or “illegal” immigrants was introduced by speakers in a variety of contexts –the economy, media, national policy, justice, marriage –to name only a few.

So when I saw this campaign slogan from the Swiss trade union UNIA, I was impressed with the simple way it re-directed our attention to the human dimension of illegal immigration: in English, “No One Can Be Illegal.”

Campaign materials are available in German, French, English, Serbian, Portuguese, Albanian, Turkish and Spanish. For more information, see the UNIA website.

The Inter-Ethnic City

This month Cities of Migration took a few key messages (along with a few of our best ideas) to UN HQ in New York: 

• In global cities, all actors are integration actors.
• Cities matter.

The reason?  The Permanent Missions of Italy and Canada, Alliance of Civilizations and International Organization of Migration were hosting, “‘The Inter-Ethnic City: Management and Policies for a Better Integration of Migrants.”  Check out the CoM presentation at the UN AoC website (and on UN Channel 3, Sept. 28), or download the presentations and speeches at the IOM.

The meeting looked at the challenges of rapid urbanization, globalization and the increasing importance of migration in urban context.

Cities of Migration talked about local practice and how the two-way integration dynamic means looking at everybody, the noisy, eclectic urban mosaic.

The city spaces where newcomers meet host communities are populated by more than the settlement worker, housing authority and employment officer. They also include unions, shopkeepers, business and professional associations, sports and arts groups, city planners, police and transportation authorities, politicians, media and ordinary citizens.

Their stories include how police officers can integrate newcomers and build trust in new institutions through language instruction; how building a local mosque can involve the whole community and resolve misunderstandings about cultural differences; how innovative zoning can create opportunities for immigrant entrepreneurs; how young people can be community leaders; how bicycling, street football or sports broadcasting, as well as education, can help level the playing field.

Have you got an integration story to tell us about?

For an event description, presentations, and archived video, see the IOM or the  UN AoC websites.

This month at Cities of Migration, we are highlighting integration practices that use mentoring and networking to help build connections into and between communities — as well as to jobs, education and opportunities for enrichment and friendship for both newcomers and longtime city residents.

It’s the focus of our October webinar, “It’s Not Just Getting a Job: It’s Building a Career” which brings Copenghagen’s KVINFO and New York’s Upwardly Global together to discuss mentoring and networking in the context and of good HR practice and career development.  Join us for a free 60-minute webinar on October 20!

It is is also an important theme in this month’s featured good idea: Making Their Mark: Unlocking Educational Opportunity for Young Refugees. 

Under the theme “ Connect! ” we invite you to travel to Birmingham, Bremen, Toronto, London and Montreal for more good ideas on mentoring.

Peer Networks with a Focus on Youth from:
Birmingham (UK):  Voices of Acton’s peer network helps develop youth leadership for conflict resolution and neighbourhood renewal.

Toronto (Canada):  Maytree’s Scholarship Program uses more than funding to help young refugees access higher education and the opportunity to build new lives. Mentoring, a peer network, and group service projects help connect students to their new communities and focus their goals for the future.

Good Neighbourn networks work both ways:
London (UK): The Time Together program in London (UK)  connects refugees to ordinary Londoners and helps bridge the cultural and practical distances that can make a journey to a new life sometimes seem even further from home.

Bremen (Germany): A family mentoring program creates new friends and intergenerational connection while helping newcomers get settled.

Getting to Work:
Finally, last month’s focus on labourforce integration also included a look at mentoring programs in Montreal, Auckland and Toronto.

Relationships are the foundation for personal and professional success and for newcomers the challenge is often finding the people and establishing the networks that can answer questions and open doors to opportunities at work and in the wider community.

In Copenhagen, the Danish Centre for Information on Women and Gender, or KVINFO, has developed a unique mentoring programme to combat professional and social isolation among immigrant women.

The mentoring programme is considered one of the largest of its kind and began when KVINFO’s director, Elisabeth Møller Jensen had a vision of Denmark as “one big workplace and network of working women.” In 2003, she personally wrote to over 300 professional women across all sectors inviting their participation in a new mentoring program. At the time, the simple idea of matching refugee and immigrant women with their native Danish counterparts was something of an experiment since it was taken for granted that these women had little in common, little contact in their everyday life, and that they would have little interest in cultivating a relationship together.

Today the programme is 4,000 strong and growing.

KVINFO’s success owes much to the organization’s inclusive feminist mission as well as its willingness to experiment with a new approach to integrating immigrant women into Danish society. However the rapid success of their Mentoring Programme is also the result of good research and a practical approach to program design. KVINFO modelled their mentoring program on an existing one for skilled immigrants in Toronto and then adapted it in consultation with HR experts from the corporate sector.

The Mentor Network

KVINFO recognized that networks are essential to enhanced career prospects. It is estimated that more than 50% of all job openings in Denmark are filled via personal networks. Through this program, mentees can access their mentor’s professional networks, but also benefit from their overall professional experience.

The KVINFO mentoring programme works by pairing up refugee and immigrant women with firmly established members of Danish society. Potential couples are matched based on the mentees’ education, professional and personal wishes.

KVINFO then encourages a mentor/mentee relationship that is based on a modified version of those used by the private sector in the US although the KVINFO approach is firmly anchored in the feminist values of mutual recognition, flat interpersonal power structures and a rigorous commitment to openness and inclusion that reflect the organization’s historical past.

Mentor and mentee meet approximately one a month. Together, the two parties draw up a contract and set specific goals to be accomplished within a fixed period of time, between 6 to 12 months. KVINFO staff actively track the progress of the relationship against the contract’s stated goals, stepping in to offer assistance or supplementary resources when needed.

This personalized support can better help the mentee’s transition into work. In addition, the Network offers informal meetings and workshops, in addition to the monthly meetings mentoring partners will already schedule with each other.

As staff member Beatriz Hernández remarks “when the concept of “the other” is taken out of the equation, everybody wins.”

Building on the power of relationships

KVINFO is also expanding beyond the general network matches with a special project to encourage greater political participation among immigrant and ethnic minority Danes. This additional outreach is part of a special project to recognise the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in Denmark.

In Copenhagen, while one in ten women is from an ethnic minority group, they only represent one in 55 city elected representatives. Furthermore, only two out of 179 of elected representatives in the Folketinget, the national parliament of Denmark, are from an ethnic minority background.

This mentoring project aims to bolster political participation and strengthen relationships between elected politicians and ethnic minority women up until the municipal elections in November 2009
Mentors have knowledge and experience in political activities, and mentees would either like an insight into political work or are already political engaged.

Similarly, KVINFO began another project in 2007 called, “Role Models through Life History” which is being done in collaboration with the mentor network. The national campaign highlights role models in Danish society and is an exhibition targeted specifically at ethnic minority women in Denmark. It features stories from 17 non-western immigrant women and their experiences in Denmark with the goal of having their stories inspire others to continue to work toward their goals with Danish society.

Success
Founded in 1965, KVINFO’s main service began with its research library, which houses over 20,000 books and journals, political publications on equal opportunities and women’s issues. The year that it was founded, in 1965, was also the year in which a parliamentary commission was established to examine the role of women in modern society with the intention to propose new gender equality legislation.

With the Mentor Network, KVINFO is creating a new cross-cultural economic equality.

Currently the Mentor Network operates in four main offices and has inspired other networks within Denmark as well as in the Norwegian cities of Oslo and Trondheim.

The programme has also received the integration prize for the public labour market by the Ministry of Refugee Immigration and Integration Affairs, an award from a Danish women’s magazine in 2004 and has been highlighted as a positive initiative in integration by the OECD.

In September 2009 KVINFO launched a campaign aimed at male business owners with immigrant backgrounds. The campaign invites these entrepreneurs to support the Mentor Network through sponsorship or small donations; however, a strategic objective is also to increase public support for the participation of immigrant women in the workforce. The campaign represents a unique opportunity for cooperation between an established cultural institution and male business owners from minority communities. The donations will go to the funding of activities of the Mentor Network, including the conference, “Mentoring and Networking women building trust and social capital in our cities” in November 2009.

All that was needed to unlock educational opportunities for aspiring young refugees in Canada were ” three small words.”

The three words “… and protected persons …” were missing from the Canada Student Financial Assistance Act. This is the Act which governs who has access in Canada to student loans for purposes of post-secondary education.

The addition of these words to the legislation enabled protected persons to apply for student loans to finance their post secondary education and leave behind a potential cycle of wasted talent and frustrated ambition.

Making Their Mark

The story of this good idea began in 1999 (before the Canada Student Financial Assistance Act had been amended). With protected persons unable to access financial assistance for education, the Maytree Scholarship Program was created to fill this gap. Today the Scholarship Program continues to assist students through a well-conceived programme of support and activities.

Each year Maytree accepts a new group of students between the ages of 17-26 who are entering their first or second year of a university or college in Toronto.

The Maytree programme is both intensive and participatory. In addition to funding that covers tuition, books, transportation, rent and a living allowance, students receive mentoring and opportunities for skills development. For the past three years scholarship students have also participated in a group community service project for the duration of the school year.  Most important, the program creates a peer network that encourages the students to create bonds both with each other and with their new communities.

However, to fully understand the impact of the Maytree Scholarship Program requires meeting the Scholarship Program participants and sharing their journeys from newly arrived young refugees to Toronto to their current roles as Canadian physicians, lawyers, nurses, journalists and philosophers.

Stories like that of Axelle Karera, who at 14 was forced to hide for three months to escape the Rwandan genocide. Seven years later, she arrived in Toronto, hopeful for a chance to rebuild her life but well aware of the obstacles.

“I started to see all the hurdles that stood in my path. As a protected person, I was ineligible for student assistance, and I thought by the time I started working and earning a living, it would be hard to change course,” she remembers.

After Axelle enrolled in some English classes, several teachers recognized her potential and encouraged her to find a way to attend university. Axelle began with two philosophy courses and, when these ended, she was keen to learn more but lacked the funding to continue her education. A scholarship from Maytree helped change all that. Last August, Axelle left Toronto to begin studying for her PhD in philosophy at Pennsylvania State University. Of two hundred applicants, Axelle was one of just seven that were admitted to the doctoral program.

Lasting Change

Without access to student loans, the high costs of post-secondary education was an impediment that increased the vulnerability of these former refugees and stood in the way of realizing their dreams and ambitions.  The Scholarship Program was able to help a few of these students annually, however, Maytree recognized that this flaw in the system could only be permanently altered by addressing the underlying social policy and pressing for appropriate changes to existing legislation.

What was needed was the addition of the three words “and protected persons” to the governing legislation. A simple change that a community of partners, a series of campaigns and an ongoing commitment to improve the refugee system took five years to achieve.

The success of the alumni of the Maytree Scholarship program -and the often harrowing adversities that the former refugees had overcome- became part of the case for change. Scholarship students became actively involved in the campaign, travelling to Ottawa to present their stories and successes to parliamentarians.

Uitsile Ndlovu, Maytree Scholarship Student, sums up what the experience meant for her:  ”[ ... as someone who came to Canada as a refugee], … it was important for me to recognize that anyone in any position is capable of making a difference in another person’s life. You don’t necessarily have to be at the top of the ladder to lift someone up.”

In 2003, the legislative change to allow protected persons to apply for student loans was included in the 2003 federal Budget - and passed to a standing ovation in the Canadian House of Commons.

The Work Continues

Maytree, the scholarship students and a determined community of supporters worked hard to help reduce systemic barriers to refugee access to higher education. To date, Maytree has provided 150 scholarships to protected persons who have settled in Canada and continues to work with its aspiring college and university students and to press for progressive social change

“In these times of diminishing compassion and hardening attitudes towards refugees worldwide and in Canada, we believe that our scholarship program makes an excellent case for Canada’s continued and improved openness to refugees,” says Judy Broadbent, Vice Chair, Maytree.

In October 2009, the Scholarship program celebrated its tenth year anniversary by publishing Making Their Mark, a compilation of stories about former and current scholarship students, with an essay on the Canadian refugee system by Peter Showler, Director of the Refugee Forum, located at the Human Rights Research and Education Centre, University of Ottawa.

The Maytree Scholarship Program began as a local, practical and compassionate response to a flaw in the refugee system and went on to contribute to policy reform that now benefits hundreds of young refugees across Canada, an outstanding example of how a simple good idea can result in powerful social change.

To access the 10-year anniversary report, Making Their Mark, click here.

From New York and Copenhagen
Webinar on  ‘Mentor and Network’, Good HR Practices for Workforce Integration

• Watch the Archived Webinar Recording!
• Download the It’s Not Just Getting a Job: It’s Building a Career PDF presentation
• Listen to the Q&A!

Today’s global economy is characterized by unprecedented levels of labour force mobility and growing levels of international trade. Cities that are able to harness the competitive advantage of diversity are able to reach into new markets, internationalize their customer base, and benefit from skills and talent that fuel innovation and drive high performance

‘Mentoring’ and ‘networking’ are two key strategies HR professionals most often cite when discussing the professional development of new –and existing– staff. These strategies are critical to immigrants seeking to enter new labour markets where language and cultural differences create additional barriers to workplace entry.

On October 20, 2009, please join Cities of Migration with guest speakers, Sherazade Langlade, from New York’s Upwardly Global and Beatriz Hernandez de Fuhr, from Copenhagen’s KVinfo, internationally recognized experts in the fields of mentoring and labourforce integration, for a 60-minute international webinar on human resource strategies that recruit, retain and result in the successful integration of skilled immigrants and increased diversity in the workforce.

To learn more about the Good Idea, read:

• Interviewing the ‘Up and Coming’ at Upwardly Global
• Working Women, A Very Simple Idea : Kvinfo Mentor Network

Who should attend: employers in all sectors, integration practitioners, immigrant supporting organizations, HR professionals, policy-makers (employment)

Requirements: To participate, you will need a computer with internet access and a landline telephone, not a mobile.

For assistance contact: citiesofmigration@maytree.com

Speakers

Sherazade Langlade
New York Managing Director, Upwardly Global

Sherazade’s extensive background in program management and corporate partnerships include previous roles as Manager of the Nonprofit Leadership Development Institute at the United Way of New York City and Director of Volunteer Programs for Habitat for Humanity where she created new programs focused on creating community value, individual impact and engaging the corporate and academic sector to partner in solving society’s challenges. She was a National Urban Fellow, Class of 2005. Sherazade was born in Paris, France to parents of French and Algerian heritage. She moved to the United States in 1984. Sherazade’s native language is French.

Beatriz Hernández de Fuhr
Mentor Network Program Coordinator, KVINFO

Beatriz is a journalist and a researcher with KVINFO, The Danish Centre for Information on Women and Gender, a modern self-governing institution dedicated to bringing women’s politics and women’s research to the forefront of cultural debate in Denmark. Beatriz has worked many years with building partnerships for international cooperation and program development, and now she is part of KVINFO’s national Mentor Network for women from all ethnic backgrounds, a program which has more than 4000 members representing over 125 nationalities - the largest of its kind in the world. Beatriz was born in Caracas, Venezuela, and her mother tongue is Spanish. She has been living in Copenhagen for the past six years.