Thank you very much for this opportunity.
I'm here on behalf of Afghan Women's Organization, known as AWO. The mission of Afghan Women's Organization is for immigrants and refugees, as well as those who have experienced war and persecution, to lead self-sufficient and dignified lives in a socially inclusive society.
AWO was established 28 years ago in response to the particular needs of refugee Afghan women. We began by offering English and settlement programs, after which we expanded our services and the scope of our projects. Today we serve clients from all over the world—women, men and children. AWO, as a sponsorship agreement holder, or SAH, has sponsored more than 5,000 refugees from several countries in the past three decades. Today, thanks to our funding from IRCC and others, at our four locations in the greater Toronto area and itinerant services in southern Ontario we offer access to much-needed settlement services. As a sponsorship organization, AWO is the first point of contact for many refugees who arrive under the private sponsorship of refugees. This combination of our experience as a SAH and as a settlement service provider makes us extremely well positioned to assist refugees who are entering Canada through private sponsorship, government sponsorship and the inland refugee process.
AWO is led mainly by former refugee women. More than 97% of our clients are refugees or from refugee families. The AWO provides multiple culturally competent and linguistically appropriate gender-sensitive services, including one-on-one supportive counselling, orientation sessions, housing, parenting programs, employment and employment-related training, health and mental health services, and much more.
In our service provision we take a holistic approach. We work closely with the entire family in partnership with our community partners. We usually initiate a first meeting at the homes of marginalized women, where we provide initial information. This in-home outreach enables us to encourage the women to participate in our programs, including language. Our women-only classes provide a safe and comfortable place for women who are isolated and housebound. The classes help them learn the language, bridge the gap, and socialize and connect with the larger society. Sadly, due to lack of funding some women on our waiting list have to wait more than a year to be enrolled. Even when they are enrolled, we have to close the classes in the summer.
The needs of refugees, particularly refugee women, are distinct from those of immigrants. The majority of these refugees are highly skilled. They have skills for surviving. They are talented. They have amazing transferable skills and potential. They need support to utilize their potential. The underutilization of skills of refugee women leads to a missed economic opportunity for Canada and increased dependency on social services.
We are concerned that the voices of women's centres are not represented at the various decision-making tables, most notably at the National Settlement Council. There are many other challenges facing the settlement of women and refugees. These include the lack of adequate and affordable housing for refugees, the lack of adequate childminding support for women, the lack of support for mental health services, the lack of support to small racialized women's organizations that have lost their IRCC funding, and the lack of access to settlement services in rural areas and isolated communities.
This year the Government of Ontario made deep cuts to their financial support for refugees and immigrants, and the number of immigrants in this province continues to grow.
We have a number of recommendations to make. Increase support for year-round language and literacy programs for women and for all refugees. Provide adequate housing support. Provide adequate support for specialized services for women and refugees. Provide support to establish culturally competent mental health services for all women, particularly refugee women.
ln closing, I would urge you to keep in mind that if the newcomers are provided with the support that organizations like ours provide, they end up making significant positive contributions to Canadian society economically and socially. I would also like to say that through sponsorship agreement holders' contribution to settlement services, an exceptionally high standard of settlement practice is maintained during the intense period of settlement and resettlement of refugees. Our experience is that privately sponsored refugees become self-sufficient sooner than government-sponsored refugees, because SAHs contribute their money, their financial resources and their time. They do a great job of resettling refugees.
Thank you.