[ Up ] [ Progress GB ] [ Upskill ] [ Completed Projects ]

‘Valuing the Skills of Refugees and Migrants in the UK’

NIACE is the lead partner in Progress GB, an EQUAL Round 2 Development Partnership aiming to address barriers to appropriate employment for refugees and migrants. The partnership is piloting and mainstreaming innovative approaches to the following two objectives:

1. Supporting employers to overcome skills shortages by promoting inclusive work practices;

2. Helping refugees and migrants to develop and adapt their skills for the UK labour market through a range of lifelong learning opportunities.
NIACE gained valuable experience in this field through working with asylum seekers as part of the ASSET UK EQUAL Round 1 DP, which ended in November 2005. As well as NIACE, Progress GB includes seven other main partners, as shown on the map below.

Further information about the work of the Progress GB partners can be found in the following documents:

Conference

Conference on Routes to Integration and Inclusion: new approaches to enable refugees and migrant workers to progress in the labour market, 26 November, London

Progress GB and unionlearn will be jointly hosting a conference to present the innovative practices being developed by the two organisations to help overcome the employment barriers faced by migrant workers and refugees in the UK. The conference will be held at Congress House in London on Monday 26 November.

Speakers at the conference will include Frances O'Grady, Deputy General Secretary of the TUC, and Alan Tuckett, Director of NIACE. Further details of the programme can be found in the PDF file below. Unfortunately the deadline for registrations has now passed and there are no spare places available.

A refugee is defined in Article 1 of the 1951 Geneva Convention as:

“A person who is outside his/her country of nationality or habitual residence; has a well-founded fear of persecution because of his/her race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion; and is unable or unwilling to avail himself/herself of the protection of that country, or to return there, for fear of persecution.”

In the UK a person gains official refugee status by first claiming asylum and then having that claim approved. Refugees come to the UK from diverse cultural backgrounds and bring with them a wealth of knowledge, skills and experiences to contribute to their host country. Many of them are already well-qualified and have gained a wide range of work experience in their country of origin. Some have skills in areas where there are particular shortages in the UK.

A migrant worker is someone who has come to the UK principally to find employment. They might come from anywhere in the world, but if they come from outside the European Union or the European Economic Area, they will need to gain permission to work; migrants from the new central and eastern European member states only need to register. Skilled migrants ‘bring new skills, ideas and attitudes to the UK, and help meet skills and labour shortages, easing inflationary pressure and increasing productivity’.

Refugees and migrant workers face considerable barriers when seeking work that is appropriate to their level of skills and qualifications; many are employed in jobs well below their capabilities. Progress GB aims to help these groups to gain appropriate employment through lifelong learning opportunities, including information, advice and guidance, and education and training programmes.

There are three phases, or ‘actions’, to Progress GB’s work plan. The development phase was completed in May 2005 and Actions 2 and 3 are now underway:-

As part of the implementation phase, Progress GB has already achieved several of its goals, including the following:-

During Action 3, Progress GB will be disseminating the findings of its Action 2 activity. Action 3 was launched on 1st February 2006 with a national conference in London on migration. The conference, entitled ‘Migration – the Benefits and Challenges’ featured expert speakers including Mr Tony McNulty MP, Minister of State for Immigration and Citizenship, and representatives from the OECD and the European Commission. Delegates heard presentations and debates on a wide range of topics, including current government policies; patterns of migration in Europe; urban and rural experiences of migrants in the UK; and the European Year of Workers’ Mobility 2006. The conference identified several areas where more work is required to provide for the needs of new arrivals to the UK, to facilitate access to appropriate employment and learning opportunities, and to maintain community cohesion.

During the course of Action 3, Progress GB will be disseminating ‘Positive Images’ packages, models for APEL and occupational ESOL, and guidelines for equalities and working with employers such as the NHS.

The following reports have been produced as part of Progress GB’s work so far:

A final report, Routes to Integration and Inclusion: New Approaches to Enable Refugee and Migrant Workers to Progress in the Labour Market, has been written to describe in detail the main lessons from the work of the partnership. Intended for policy makers and practitioners, the report describes the systems and methods needed to enable refugees and migrants to integrate successfully and make progress in the UK labour market, and to overcome the problems of social and economic exclusion.

A PDF is available for download below. To obtain a printed copy of the report please send your name and address to ProgressGB@niace.org.uk

The EQUAL programme is part of the European Social Fund. Through transnational co-operation the initiative tests and promotes new means of combating all forms of discrimination and inequality in the European labour market, both for those in work and those seeking work. Progress GB’s partners in the UK are implementing regional pilot projects and new national approaches under Theme E, the lifelong learning strand of EQUAL.

Several other EQUAL development partnerships are also working with refugees and migrants. Progress GB has joined a grouping called MEET (Migrants – Empowerment – Employment – Training) with four other DPs, from the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Italy. MEET is seeking to address the barriers to employment at a Europe-wide level. The partnership has its own website: www.meetequal.org.

If you wish to know more or have any questions about Progress GB then please do contact one of the following members of the management team. Thank you for taking an interest in Progress GB!

Top of page