SRV’s and a model for resolving strategic,

national and local

settlement issues

Ahmed TaniChairperson (Canterbury Refugee Council).

Overview of SRV• Strengthening Refugee Voices (SRV) initiative is a

formal platform for refugee background communities to be informed of, and have their views communicated on the key issues and challenges associated with refugee resettlement in New Zealand.

• SRV includes members of different refugee background communities.

Who We Are We are a dynamic network of people who are

committed to engage with government and non government agencies working in the resettlement area on strategic, national and local resettlement issues.

The initiative is made up of: Auckland Refugee Community Coalition, Waikato Refugee Forum, ChangeMakers Refugee Forum, and Canterbury Refugee Council.

Our Achievements SRV has provided communities both new and old

with a meaningful and collective way of “having a say”.

SRV is a key channel through which communities are informed about policy changes.

SRV meetings enable agencies to hear directly from communities.

SRV is based on a two-way system:

Communities feed information to their SRV representatives, who feed it to the refugee group to pass on to NGOs and the government.

The refugee groups feed information from NGOs and the government to SRV representatives, who pass it to their communities. Also, we get information from the grassroots to pass to the government departments.

The reach of SRV goes beyond formal community membership. SRVs are drawing in individuals/small groups from within communities that may not be formally organised.

SRV fosters wider relationships. For example, the Family Reunite Trust.

SRV consultation directly informs the content of the annual National Refugee Resettlement Forum (NRRF).

Types of Settlement Issues Raised Housing

Employment

Language and Cultural barriers

Health, particularly the elderly and women

The Future SRV model SRV needs to fit with New Zealand Refugee

Resettlement Strategy (NZRRS).

Engage with service delivery agencies and sustain effective links.

Strengthen relationships between SRV management teams and their community leaders.

Strategies Issues which have multiple agency significance (e.g. ESOL).

National Issues which have single agency and many different impacts (e.g. Housing).

Local Issues which have single agency / localised impact.

Case Study: Canterbury Refugee Council’s handling of settlement issues

Canterbury Refugee Council has in the past resolved and discussed many settlement issues both with agencies and with refugee communities in areas like elderly, youth and education.

For example, Health Professional Forum, Refugee Elderly Persons forum and so forth.

Recent project done by the Canterbury Refugee Council is Summerz end held on 5th April, 2014. The programme was an attempt to connect youths from mainstream and diverse backgrounds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJ_NunJfBwo