Refugee Support Initiatives
Contributing to inclusion by facilitating communication between stakeholders of different cultures and contexts.
[French version | German version]
Intercultural competence is essential to many sectors; whether you are a state-sponsored institution, an NGO, an educational/academic community, a private business employing refugees, a volunteer working with refugees or supporting inclusion efforts of newly arrived refugees and migrants, SIETAR Switzerland can help you acquire the necessary skills and develop appropriate solutions for your needs.
As a source of information and training resource for professionals and volunteers working with refugees we offer :
- An opportunity for information-sharing on the topic of Migration and Refugees to SIETAR members and interested members of the larger public
- A network for sharing best practices, mentoring and support for SIETAR members and those working in the field
- Awareness raising (inside and outside our professional Association) of the role interculturalists can play in the integration and inclusion of refugees and migrants,
- Access and training on the latest tools to facilitate integration and inclusion.
As a go-to place for refugees seeking to learn more about Swiss culture and practices we offer:
- Access to our regional coordinators and our learning modules as these are scheduled
- An opportunity to join our Association and its network. To that effect our Board is offering 5 free SIETAR Switzerland memberships for refugees. Please refer to our regional coordinators for more information.
With dedicated regional coordinators, we invite you/your organization to reach out to find out about the support we can offer.
For Suisse Romande, please contact Anne-Claude Lambelet
For German-speaking cantons, please contact Sibylle Ganz-Koechlin
Or write to us at: refugeesupport@sietar.ch
Refugee Initiatives to date:
Over the last 4 years, SIETAR Switzerland has taken an active part in projects involving the inclusion and integration of refugees.
2022-present: Collaboration as an external stakeholder on a co-creation pilot project of the FORTHEM Diversity and Migration Lab involving the development of IncluKit a training kit aimed at the whole spectrum of volunteers and professionals involved in the initial reception of newly arrived migrants.
For more information, please click here.
2019-2022 : Collaboration as intercultural expert on the UNES Perspectives Studies project which focused on supporting refugees in higher education in Switzerland.
For more information, please click here.
Migration and Refugee focus: As an organization, SIETAR Switzerland systematically includes as one of the focus areas the topic of Migration and Integration support in training and session offers during the year.
This topic will also be the object of a session at our next congress in 2025.
Partner: SIETAR Europa SIG (Special Interest Group) on Migration on which one of our regional coordinators serves as team leader.