Putting Participation into Practice

Immigrant and refugee women have tackled the upheavals of migration, and continue to meet the daily challenges of settling in a new country. Employment and education are just two of the areas where women from other countries experience additional hurdles: recognition of overseas qualifications; disrupted education and careers; family upheaval; lower English proficiency; and racial discrimination. Overcoming these hurdles requires considerable skills and immigrant and refugee women very often rise to the challenges with maximum effort and minimal support. Why is it that the contribution and leadership skills of immigrant and refugee women remains largely unrecognised?

Our leadership and advocacy program is based on the recognition that the needs and experiences of immigrant and refugee women, as with all individuals and groups, are diverse. In the same way, we also understand that the concept of leadership does not have the same meaning across cultures and communities. Leadership is not solely about leading, but can also be a process of communication and an agent of transformation and change.

The key principles of the acronym PACE-Participate, Advocate, Communicate, Engage-form the foundation of the MCWH approach to leadership and advocacy. Our tailored approach to leadership and advocacy ensures that our program is both culturally appropriate and individually meaningful to women.

The education sessions and workshops, which are delivered as part of the program, allow women to identify for themselves the terms of their skill and knowledge development for participation.

Whether immigrant and refugee women are advocating for change, for their families, or for their communities, our leadership and advocacy program provides them with the skills and knowledge to put participation into practice.

Did you know...?

• The world average for the percentage of women in national parliaments is approximately 20%.
   
• As of December 2010, Australia ranked 40th in the world (behind Afghanistan and Iraq) for the number of women in the lower house of parliament. Rwanda was ranked number one.
   
• Women from immigrant and refugee backgrounds make up approximately 16% of the Australian population, yet only 2% of the total number of Australian MPs are women from immigrant and refugee backgrounds.
   

Sources:
Women in Parliaments www.ipu.org/wmn-e/world.htm
The Political Representation of Ethnic & Racial Minorities Briefing Paper 3/06 www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/publications.nsf
/key/ThePoliticalRepresentationofEthnicandRacialMinorities