Igma-Femina attendees highlight skills current refugees need

For the past three years, Newham Charity 15billionebp have been working on a European Erasmus+ funded project ‘Igma Femina’.

The aim? To develop training for guidance practitioners working with female refugees and migrants.

Successful careers guidance can be a key aide in empowering women to eventually participate within their new home country’s labour market. For this reason, partners from the UK (15billionebp and Rinova), Sweden, Ukraine, Greece and the Netherlands have developed a new ‘Igma Femina’ curriculum, based on the holistic ‘Igma’ training model.

The training pilot took place in February 2019 at the Ealing offices of tech company Cognizant. Participants had the chance to offer feedback on the new curriculum, network with other organisations working with refugee and migrant women, and develop their awareness of gender.

Women and girls who are refugees can face even more complex barriers than male refugees but often do not benefit from equal support into employment. The UN has outlined reasons why economic empowerment for women is beneficial (source: https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/economic-empowerment/facts-and-figures).

Pilot participants explored top challenges facing female refugees and how to adapt personalised careers guidance. Challenges include: language barriers, understanding the job market and application processes and negative stereotyping.

General recommendations include more free English and work-related English language learning, including outside of the college cycle, more training for female refugees on understanding the benefits system, digital literacy, mental health support and confidence building.

For more information please visit: https://igmafemina.dimitra.gr/en/