SIXTH INTERNATIONAL METROPOLIS CONFERENCE

WORKSHOP 34: NGO's in the face of immigrant and refugee reception and settlement dynamics: is their role complementary or alternative to governmental policies?

Wednesday, November 28, 2001
14:00 - 15:30


ORGANIZERS

Stephan Reichhold
Director
Table de concertation des organismes au service des personnes réfugiés et immigrantes
518 Beaubien East, Montreal, Quebec. H2S 1S5 CANADA
Tel. (514) 272-6060
Fax (514) 272-3748
e-mail : tcri@cam.org

Annick Germain
Researcher / Professor
INRS - Urbanisation, Culture et Société, Université de Québec
3465 Durocher, Montreal, Quebec. H2X 2C6 CANADA
Tel. (514) 499-4004
Fax. (514) 499-4065
e-mail : annick_germain@inrs-ucs.uquebec.ca

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION

Within civil society, community organizations and associations play a growing role in facilitating the settlement, integration, and civic participation process of persons belonging to recent immigrant waves and to refugee movements. The actions of these organizations can be seen as either complementary or alternative to those of the State on three fronts in particular: promotion and defense of rights; services targeted at new immigrants; and the development of opportunities for socialization and civic participation.

Relations between community associations and the State differ significantly from country to country. In Quebec and Canada, the State depends highly on sub-contracting and on the services of community organizations in order to respond to immigrants' needs, while in other countries services to new immigrants and refugees are provided mainly by municipalities and the para-public sector. In the last few years, however, we have been witnessing cross-evolution between these models, each having its advantages and disadvantages, or rather, its challenges.

The purpose of this workshop is to stimulate comparative reflection on this evolution from a broad perspective, above and beyond a discussion of successive case studies. It intends to initiate continuous dialogue between researchers and the associative, municipal, and public sectors, on the following questions in particular. Although State disinvestment towards associative networks can increase recognition of their services, could it not also reduce their autonomy? How can the coupling of associative and state dynamics be rethought in order to improve services to immigrants and refugees?

Format
Panel consisting of resource persons / researchers / decision-makers / NGO's and the animators. Presentation of research (Montreal and Lyon) with participants.

DURATION: 90 minutes

PARTICIPANTS
· Roger Noël, Ministère Québecois des Relations avec les citoyens er de l'immigration, Canada (chair)
· Annick Germain, Researcher / Professor, INRS-Urbanisation / Université de Québec, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
· Frédérique Bourgeois, Researcher, Économie et Humanisme, Lyon, France
· Stephan Reichhold, Director, Table de concertation des organismes au service des personnes réfugiées et immigrantes
· Eva Østergaard-Nielsen, London School of Economics, UK
· Maria Berger, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands