Settling In
Settling In is a community development programme that works directly with refugee and migrant communities to help them find solutions to meet their own needs.
It was established in 2003 to build relationships between refugee, migrant and host communities, and ensure government policy affecting them is developed in a collaborative way. The programme is administered by Family and Community Services as part of its function to lead and coordinate services for families.
Our vision is a New Zealand that welcomes and celebrates diversity, where refugees and migrants settle well and are able to contribute to our nation in all aspects of life – social, economic, civic and cultural.
Aims of the programme are to:
- identify social service needs in refugee and migrant communities
- purchase services where available
- develop capacity, skills and knowledge within the refugee and migrant communities
- work across government, NGO and community sectors.
In this section:
» How Settling In Operates
» Settling In Evaluation - June 2009
» Contact Information
How Settling In Operates
Settling In operates in 11 regions:
- Whangarei
- Auckland
- Tauranga
- Hamilton
- Hawkes Bay
- Palmerston North
- Wellington
- Nelson/Tasman
- Marlborough
- West Coast
- Canterbury
The Settling In team works with members of refugee and migrant communities to help them find solutions to their own needs.
Projects and activities we have helped set up or fund are:
Auckland/Northland
Whangarei Muslim Community
‘Settling in’ is playing a key part in ensuring that the Muslim community in the area are connecting well with the Far North community and raising awareness of the needs of the Muslim people and their youth. There are over 100 Muslim people living in the area.
Muslim Women’s Network
Muslim women in the Auckland area have formed a Muslim Women’s Network so they can meet regularly to support each other, make friends and facilitate greater understanding between Muslim communities of differing ethnicities and to discuss ways of meeting their communities’ needs. Members include women from Fiji, Egypt, Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq, India, Eretria, Ethiopia and South Africa.
Mt Roskill Refugee Youth Issues
A working group formed by the Mt Roskill Refugee Youth Project, Auckland, aims to address key issues identified by the newly settled youth in their area. Issues include education, employment, racism and access to sports.
Congolese Community Talk About Positive Parenting in New Zealand
The Auckland Congolese Community met with Family and Community Services and Relationship Services to talk about ‘positive parenting’ in New Zealand.
Funding was also made available for members of the Congolese community to attend parenting programmes. They will share their new parenting skills with other members of their community.
Community Leaders Key to Preventing Violence within the Ethnic Community
Community leaders of the new settler ethnic groups attended a family violence awareness workshop organised by the Waitakere New Settler Safer Stronger Families Steering Group. The group included leaders from the Kurdish, Afghani, Iraqi, Burmese and Iranian communities.
The workshop provided information about local services available to prevent family violence. It also raised awareness amongst participating agencies of the need to support ethnic communities to prevent family violence from happening. Raising awareness through the community leaders was seen as an effective way of doing this.
Waikato
More support for women in Waikato
A group has been established to bring together refugee and migrant women who are isolated within their community in order to encourage participation and offer a better access to services.
Hawkes Bay
Ethnic Council set up
Hawkes Bay Ethnic Council has been set up in the Hawke’s Bay region to give migrants and refugees a more cohesive voice. The Diversity Council will undertake a range of activities on the community’s behalf enabling them to take part more in the life of the community.
Finding support for Network
Volunteer Hawkes Bay has been funded to support the fledgling Newcomers Network that is operating in the Hawkes Bay area.
Wellington
Volunteering with Community Agencies
Volunteer Wellington is promoting volunteering to new migrants and refugee groups. This is part of Volunteer Wellington’s aim to improve the settling in experiences of refugee and migrants to Wellington.
A volunteer mentoring programme has been developed specifically for the refugee community. This programme trains and mentors volunteers so they can work with community agencies. The response from the refugee and migrant communities has been positive with the immediate outcome being an improvement in cross-cultural understanding and awareness between communities. Funding for the programme comes from the Settling In programme.
Nelson, Marlborough and West Coast
West Coast Get Together
West Coast welcomed new migrants recently at the Literacy Westland Adult Learning Centre in Greymouth. The event, funded by Settling In, provided a place for new migrants to share their experiences of living on the West Coast.
Health Ambassadors to Help Migrants Access Social Services in Marlborough
The Marlborough Migrant Centre, on behalf of Marlborough’s Primary Health Organisation, facilitated discussions with migrants recently to develop a group of health ambassadors, along with a pool of interpreters, who can help migrants’ access information on health and social services, particularly to those who do not speak English.
There are some 20 nationalities represented in the Marlborough area and about 48 different languages spoken, so there is potential for this group to become an excellent resource in areas well beyond health.
Nelson Tasman Workforce Development Group
The Nelson Tasman Workforce Development Group migrant initiative, led by Settling In, has two major projects that will provide valuable insight and information on migrant and refugee workforce capability. Members of the Development Group include Career Services, Nelson Multi Ethnic Council, Department of Labour, Nelson-Marlborough Institute of Technology and Nelson Regional Economic Development Agency.
The first project involves developing a database for employers and skilled migrants coming into the Nelson Tasman region. The second is to establish a Migrant Employment Co-ordinator for Nelson Tasman.
Settling In West Coast Report
Six focus groups have been working on the West Coast discussing key issues and priorities for refugees and migrants in the area. The findings from these and other information from government, industry and community are being collated and will be released in the “Settling In West Coast” report later this year.
Christchurch
Rolleston Newcomers Network
A Newcomers Network has been established in Rolleston with the support of the Selwyn District Council and Settling In. Rolleston is located 20 minutes south of Christchurch and has experienced a large number of migrants moving into the area recently.
Rolleston has little public transport and many young families are unable to get around and are experiencing isolation and challenges in regard to settlement and forming social networks. The Newcomers Network will provide support for these migrant groups.
Interagency Youth Agreement
The Interagency Youth Agreement for Young People from a Refugee background has been officially launched. Settling In is coordinating focus groups and lead agencies to achieve the goals stated in the agreement. The education, employment, health, youth participation, social inclusion, justice for youth and ethnic responsiveness focus groups are meeting regularly. A youth expo is being planned to bring together all agencies and youth from a refugee background together to educate and inform.
Approximately 1880 refugees have resettled in Christchurch over the past 10 years from Cambodia, Laos, Somalia, Ethiopia, Kurdistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Nepal. Approximately 25% of this diverse population is aged between 13 and 25.
Christchurch City Council’s Community Outcomes
A framework and associated benchmarks are being developed by the Christchurch City Council and Settling In to record progress with the Council’s Community Outcome’s goal of an Inclusive and Diverse Society.
Settling In Evaluation
The Settling In Evaluation Report is the programmes first comprehensive research report since its inception in 2003. The report was carried out by the Ministry of Social Development’s Center for Social Research and Evaluation.
The three objectives of the report were to describe the initiative, identify the value derived from Settling and identify critical success factors and potential improvements.
The Report found the values and principles of the Settling programme and the way it is implemented to be consistent and effective.
Key findings of the report find that Settling In has contributed to a number of positive outcomes for the refugee and migrant communities including:
- health and well-being
- social connectivity and decreased isolation
- increased knowledge of New Zealand systems
- and raised awareness of the needs of migrant and refugee communities amongst government and local community agencies.
The Report also found that the Settling In Co-ordinators, and the way they work, are key to the success of the programme. This includes their commitment to their communities, networking capability, big picture approach in dealing with the social needs of communities and the flexibility they have to direct their efforts to the most pressing needs of their communities.
» Read the Settling In Evaluation Report - PDF 633kb
Contacting the Settling In team
| Settling In team | Region | Contacts |
|---|---|---|
| Ann Dysart - National Manager | Wellington | 04 916 3767 |
| Jenny Janif | Auckland/Northland | 09 916 1836 |
| Lily Lee | Auckland | |
| Ismail Gamadid | Waikato | 021 125 7127 |
| Wellington/Hawke’s Bay | c/o Heni Turner 04 918 9558 |
|
| Brigid Ryan | Nelson, Tasman, Marlborough, Tauranga, Palmerston North | 021 400 718 |
| Canterbury | c/o Heni Turner 04 918 9558 |
|
| Heni Turner | National Administrator | 04 918 9558 |
