Refugee Week - 21 June 2021

Council acknowledges the Wadawurrung Traditional Owners of this land and all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People who are part of the Greater Geelong community today.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• Christine Couzens MP
• Cr Belinda Moloney
• Deputy Mayor Trent Sullivan - TBC
• Commissioner Shankar Kasynathan [Shan-car Kuz-i-nathan] from the Victorian Multicultural Commission, also Ambassador for Refugee Week 2021
• Gyanendra Upreti [Guy-an-end-ra Oo-pret-i], Victorian Multicultural Commission
• Prehashini Joseph [Pre-hush-ini Jo-seph], Diversitat
• Dr Matin Ghayour Minaie [Mar-tin Gay-or Min-ay], CEO of PHEMICCS and Research Fellow at Deakin University’s School of Psychology
• Representatives from the Migrants Workers Centre.
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• Good evening everyone and thank you for joining us tonight.

• This year’s Refugee Week theme is ‘Unity – the way forward’, reflecting the need to work together to survive, thrive and move forward in these challenging times.

• This week, we highlight the aspects of the refugee experience and help the broader community to understand what it is like to be a refugee.

• Throughout the week the City will be posting stories of community members from
refugee backgrounds and I encourage you to listen to the incredible resilience,
strength and experience these individuals bring to our community.

• This year’s theme is very fitting, as we’ve never been so unified as we are now,
in our fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Working together, with every
member of our community is the only way forward to a healthy and safe future.

• We acknowledge the extraordinary challenges faced by our culturally and
linguistically diverse, migrant, refugee and asylum seeker community members
during this time.

• Many face additional barriers, such as language, workplaces highly impacted by
lockdowns and restrictions, financial stress and separation from loved ones
abroad.

• The pandemic has shone a light on the importance of equal access to
information, resources, and support in order to keep community members safe,
well and thriving. It is more important than ever to engage and support our most
vulnerable communities and respond to their needs and aspirations.

• With great challenges, comes unique opportunities to do incredible work. As
chair of the Multicultural Affairs portfolio, I couldn’t be prouder of the City’s work
and support for community-led initiatives such as ‘Safety at Work’.

• I thank the community leaders and advocates who are leading this important
work by identifying the gaps and needs of the community. We look forward to
providing more understanding of workplace safety for our multicultural workers.

• I’m also appreciative for the members of our Multicultural Action Plan Advisory
Committee for their work and guidance.

• And lastly, thanks to the culturally and linguistically diverse members of our
community, to those from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds who have
made Greater Geelong home. You have enriched the fabric of our region and
make Geelong a more vibrant, diverse and creative place to live.

• We look forward to working together to ensure the Geelong region continues to
be a welcoming and safe place where everyone can lead a happy and fulfilled
life.
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