Grants awarded under the Refugee and Asylum Seekers Initiative
The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund believes the rights of refugee and people seeking asylum should be upheld. As part of its work to encourage their fair and humane treatment, the Fund's Refugee and Asylum Seekers Initiative has recently awarded grants to:
Equality Diversity Forum
To undertake a piece of research to ensure that existing and new equalities legislation is used to reduce the disadvantage experienced by refugees and migrants.
The Equality and Diversity Forum (EDF) is a network of organisations committed to equal opportunities, social justice, good community relations, respect for human rights and an end to discrimination on the basis of gender, disability, sexual orientation and age.
Oval House Theatre
To build on the Fund's recent support to We Are Londoners, Oval House Theatre's three-year, youth-led, arts and education project aimed at bridging the gap between young Londoners from new communities, specifically refugees and people seeking asylum, and young Londoners from more established communities.
Oval House Theatre Arts in Education is committed to providing exciting and challenging arts opportunities for children and young people in and out of schools and supporting the adults who work with them.
Westminster Abbey
To support the Access to Higher Education Working Group and the Churches' Refugee Network. In addition the grant will support the work of Canon Dr. Nicholas Sagovsky, former commissioner on the Independent Asylum Commission, towards encouraging the implementation of Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the right to education, for refugees and people seeking asylum.
In working to change immigration legislation to meet international standards on children's rights and ensure the priority of the best interests of the child, RASI has awarded grants to:
European Programme on Integration and Migration (EPIM)
To support work aimed at strengthening the role played by NGOs advocating for a European integration agenda that benefits migrants, including people seeking asylum, and host communities.
EPIM is an initiative of NEF, the Network of European Foundations and a joint venture of foundations[1] from across Europe. Funds will contribute to EPIM's grants scheme, building partnerships and links between advocacy organisations within member states.
Immigration Law Practitioners Association (ILPA)
To improve the legal representation for all children seeking asylum by providing access to specialist representatives. This grant will also enable ILPA to encourage legal challenges to asylum decisions where the best interests of the child have not been taken into account; provide training opportunities for those working on asylum law; disseminate best practice; and continue to influence other organisations.
ILPA was founded in 1984 and is a non-governmental professional association with some 1000 members who are barristers, solicitors and advocates practising in all aspects of immigration, asylum and nationality law.
Refugee and Migrant Justice
To improve the legal representation for all children seeking asylum by specialist representatives and to advocate for legislative and policy changes for children who are refugees or seeking asylum in the UK.
Refugee and Migrant Justice provide free legal advice and representation to people seeking asylum and other vulnerable migrants who do not have the means to pay, and develop a more informed debate about asylum and immigration using their expertise and experience in campaigning and influencing.
[1]The Atlantic Philanthropies (Ireland) Barrow Cadbury Trust (UK), Compagnia di San Paolo (Italy), Foundation Bernheim (Belgium), Fundacao Calouste Gulbenkian (Portugal), Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (UK), King Baudoin Foundation (Belgium), Oak Foundation (UK) and Robert Bosch Stiftung (Germany).
24/11/2009
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