|
We
are
pleased to announce that the Canadian Council for Refugees held a very
successful international refugee rights conference 17-19 June 2006
in Toronto, Canada. The
conference was
attended by close to 500 participants, with representation from over 30
countries in all regions of the world. Most
participants were NGO representatives and Non-NGOs
that are supportive of the work of NGOs also attended.
Please use the menu to the left to consult the conference report or
find out more about the International Network on Refugee Rights.
Goal of the conference
The conference brought together representatives of NGOs*
committed to refugee protection from around the
world, including the Global South, to examine the state of refugee
protection and the role being played by NGOs. The
goal of the
conference was to enhance the effectiveness of NGOs in promoting the
human
rights of refugees by promoting cross-border networking.
Conference sessions
We adapted the successful consultation model regularly
used by the Canadian Council for Refugees to fit the international
nature of our June 2006 consultation. The conference took place as
follows:
Part 1: participatory workshops geared to information-sharing and
strategizing on particular topics.
Part 2: working sessions to develop specific action items
Part 3: concluding plenary session to review and agree on consolidated
action items.
The main themes that were covered during the conference were:
- Interdiction and access to protection
- Internally displaced persons
- Effective protection
- Detention of asylum seekers
- Economic and social rights of refugees
- Durable solutions (local integration, voluntary
repatriation, resettlement)
- Refugee determination
- Gender violence and refugees
- Trafficking in persons
- Settlement and integration of refugees
Workshop topics included: Interdiction and access to protection,
Detention of asylum seekers, Voluntary repatriation, Resettlement,
Internally displaced persons, Refugee determination issues, Gender
violence and refugees, Trafficking in persons, Statelessness, Combating
negative public opinion/Promoting positive attitude, Palestinian
refugees, Family reunification, Economic and social rights of refugees,
Gender-based approach to settlement, Refugee children, Survivors of
torture, Integration of resettled refugees, Haiti, Security agenda
& refugees, Warehousing, Refugee youth, welcoming
communities, Theology of migration, Forced return + more.
The conference schedule and details about the sessions are
available here 
THE
CANADIAN COUNCIL FOR REFUGEES (CCR)
The CCR is an umbrella NGO, with some 180 member organizations in
Canada. It is the leading advocate for refugees in Canada.
Its mission commits it to promoting the protection of refugees in
Canada and around the world. For more information, consult the
CCR website at www.web.ca/ccr.
_________
* "NGO" means "non-governmental
organization". Some may use the term "voluntary agency".
|
