UnFailing the refugee care system in Armenia:
Armenia is the third European country with the biggest number of displaced people from Syria. We are accepting refugees but do not have a social system enabling the newcomers to integrate in our society. There is no organization which truly deals with all of the challenges Syrian Armenians are facing here. As a result, most of them get disappointed and do not stay in Armenia failing to find jobs, affordable housing, etc. Due to the current system, Armenia is missing the once in a lifetime opportunity to gain a huge human capital increase. Anna works for a social enterprise that employs strategies aimed at significantly improving the lives and well-being of the thousands of Syrian-Armenians impacted by the ravaging war in Syria.
Anna's session at LOTE5 addresses the issues preventing the refugees to become self-sustainable in the long run and aims to find ways to improve the current social care system in Armenia. https://goo.gl/Z8wsMR
Coming together to unFail reception and integration of newcomers:
Many grassroots groups are facilitating the passage/stay of the new arrivals, by giving them practical information, access to medical assistance, legal aid, dorms/shelter, food, translators, the internet, etc.They're also creating and maintaining a line of communication with the local administrations and communities, facilitating the creation of better-targeted services and attempting to defuse unnecessary and potentially dangerous tensions among those citizens that see the newcomers as a threat.
Unfortunately, many well-meaning efforts employ charity-based approaches that position people currently in the asylum process as “weak” recipients of our benevolence rather than potential allies in tackling systemic crises. These narratives pigeonhole people now seeking asylum as costs to the system. They also risk fueling mechanisms of exclusion, ensuring the newcomers will never be treated as equals in our communities- with all the rights and responsibilities that this entails...
We need to change the narrative if we are to make use of the new opportunities offered by newcomers. From beneficiaries to trailblazers.
Nadia's session aims to look at practical ways in which we can build sustainable futures together by helping to improve the existing initiatives, and where needed, create new ones. https://goo.gl/0o6Rai