Welcome to our August 2022 newsletter!

From representing MYAN at international events and releasing a new consultation report on the AHRC Draft Anti-racism Framework, to hosting in person events (finally!) with our young leaders, and welcoming our inspiring new Youth Ambassadors, it’s been another busy month for our MYAN team. Read on for information about all this and more! 

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The MYAN team

Our National Manager in Geneva for the Annual Tripartite Consultations on Resettlement (ATCR)

The Annual Tripartite Consultations on Resettlement (ATCR) event was held this June 2022 in Geneva. MYAN Australia was represented at the event by our National Manager, Rana Ebrahimi. The ATCR allows for open and frank dialogue and strives to produce positive outcomes by forging collaborative approaches to global resettlement. The theme for this year’s ATCR was “Reemerging and Building Globally”, and in this context MYAN contributed to updating the 2019 pledges which include Meaningful Refugee Participation, Resettlement, Complementary pathways, Community Sponsorship, Creating Welcoming Communities with Intentionality, Expanding Solutions which include Internally Displaced Persons and Stateless Persons, Non-discrimination, Inhumane Deportation of Asylum Seekersand Climate-induced displacement .

See the report published by the Refugee Council of Australia for an overview of the event.

MYAN In-person Youth Leadership Retreat

MYAN was so excited to be able to  hold an in person retreat over the last weekend of June to touch base with all the amazing young leaders in our network. Present at the retreat was the Youth CaLD Disability Collective (YCDC), the Youth Reference Group (YRG), the State and Territory Ambassador Network (STAN), the new Youth Ambassador Network (YAN), as well as the outgoing cohort of YANs.

The retreat was an opportunity for  all our young leaders  across the various MYAN networks to meet and connect, and learn about each others’ roles and how they are interconnected. Importantly, it was an opportunity for the new 2022 YAN cohort to meet each other for the first time and establish the foundations of their new role as MYAN Youth Ambassadors. This included highlighting objectives, working together to establish their mission and vision, and brainstorming strategy, activities and goals. The young people were supported by MYAN staff and the outgoing YAN cohort. Of course, there was time to get to know each other over  plenty of laughs, good food and innovative games and have an opportunity to thank our outgoing YAN for the incredible work they have contributed to MYAN over the last 2 years.

Click here for an overview of the 2 days of the retreat on our new TikTok account!

Panel with the YAN Alumni

On the last day of the in-person retreat, we held a panel with young people from across the different youth groups and they shared their experience and learnings from their time as MYAN Youth Ambassadors. As experienced advocates, Mac Zamani from YCDC, Fatima Tlaa (YAN alumni and current YRG), Zahra Al Hilay (YAN alumni) and Grace Edward (YAN Alumni and current YCDC Co-Chair) talked about the potential that young people have to unite within their communities and successfully connect with other communities. Their advice is to be receptive to opportunities that present themselves, to take a leap of faith and to trust in their abilities.

The panel acknowledged that while advocacy work can present important opportunities to connect with and educate a broader audience, advocacy work is not without its challenges,  especially when your identity is intrinsically politicised, and the work that you do is informed by generational trauma. The YAN alumni reminded the new incoming YAN about the importance of self care and to prioritise their health and wellbeing, know when to pick their battles, and to be proactive in setting  boundaries for themselves.

We are so proud of MYAN’s 2020 YAN who recently graduated from their 2 year term and blazed an impressive trail for the incoming YAN. Chanceline Kakule (SA YAN), Domina Augustine (NSW YAN), Fatima Tlaa (SA YAN), Jane Chen (VIC YAN), Mary Harm (QLD YAN) and Zahra Al Hilaly (WA YAN) have left a lasting legacy in the MYAN YAN which is now an established platform for young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds to demonstrate their leadership skills and work to influence the national and international agenda into the future.

It is important to recognise the unique journey that MYAN’s 2020 YAN have had and the resilience they each displayed in these past two years with all the challenges that emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic. We share our sincere  thanks and gratitude to each member for their hard work and contributions, their bravery and their dedication to improving the landscape for multicultural young people in Australia. It has been a wonderful journey watching such a passionate group of young women come together from across Australia to form a strong and active network which has influenced not only MYAN but also the local, state, national and international arenas that have been positively impacted by each of their contributions.

We can’t wait to see what you will all achieve next!

It is with great excitement that we introduce MYAN’s new 2022 YAN! With 12 representatives from across Australia, we are thrilled that our network of young leaders is growing and excited to be working alongside such a passionate and dedicated group of young advocates and leaders. 
 

At MYAN’s recent  retreat, the group have already come up with great ideas   and successfully began to develop a plan for the year ahead, have built a strong sense of connection within the group, and are hitting the ground running with their recent contributions for International Youth Day. We can’t wait to see how this group will impact in the coming months! To learn more about MYAN’s 2022 YAN, keep updated about their activities, or to engage with the group, visit the MYAN youth page.

MYAN recently took part in the AMRC Youth Forum 2022 where our National Manager Rana Ebrahimi  presented at the event, showcasing the experiences of young people of refugee and migrant background. The theme of this year’s forum was “Pathways to Belonging”. As always, young people from MYAN’s network provided  valuable insights. This is what Mimona  - South Australian Youth Ambassador - had to say:

MYAN’s Youth Reference Group recently welcomed 3 new members to the team - LC, Maggie and Ish. The YRG is tasked with helping frame the COVID-19 campaigns and projects for Australia’s CALD communities. Over the past year and a half, MYAN YRG along with our communication and engagement officer, Dr. Ali Saha, have worked alongside the Department of Health to deliver multiple important projects in line with the COVID-19 project that deals with strategizing ways to identify barriers and solutions and accordingly communicating about the vaccines and booster doses to members of CALD communities.

Great work team!

We look forward to continuing this work with our new members. Find out more about the team here.

Register for MYAN National Sector Consultation on communicating COVID-19 vaccines among multicultural communities

Concerns about the spread of COVID-19 remain, and although vaccines are widely available, there remains some hesitancy in vaccine uptake.

MYAN is hosting a sector consultation to identify the work done so far to encourage vaccine uptake. The consultation will focus on how the sectors and their members have worked towards stopping the spread of COVID-19 by encouraging vaccination within multicultural communities across Australia. Particularly the various strategies and plans used.

The zoom link will be mailed closer to the date.

If you have any questions please contact Dr. Ali Saha, MYAN's Communication and Engagement Officer.

COVID-19 Vaccines Disability update

The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is drafting the National Anti-Racism Framework and has consulted with different communities and groups across the country to help inform the framework. MYAN has long advocatedfor the development of a national anti-racism strategy, with the understanding that it would provide critical guidance for supporting and resourcing coordinated action to address racism and discrimination in Australia. MYAN Chair, Carmel Guerra, has said that a National Anti-Racism framework will create the conditions for a healthy and productive society and a stronger sense of safety and inclusion for everyone.

As part of the consultation process, MYAN hosted a national youth consultation to help inform this framework. The consultation was peer-led and focused on participants’ thoughts on racism, exploring the spaces where young people experienced its prevalence, and identifying its impact, and key issues young people would like the framework to address, including their ideas for effective responses and solutions. This report presents a summary of this consultation.

Read the Multicultural Youth Perspectives on Racism and the Draft Anti-Racism Framework – 2022 Consultation Findings

The National Anti-Racism Framework will play a critical role in promoting safer and more welcoming communities, thus leading to more positive settlement outcomes for young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds.

On Sunday July 31st 2022, Headspace hosted an online group chat discussion about exploring one’s cultural identity. Krushnadevsinh (Kano) Ravalji from the YRG and MYAN staff, Sen Toyotoshi, took part in the discussion and explored topics such as how they connect with their culture, how they stay connected to family and friends, advice for young people who feel disconnected to their culture, and about their favourite cultural media.

Group chats can be less daunting to participate in as opposed to a zoom or in-person discussion. Indeed, the conversation was engaging and provided some interesting insight on young people’s connection to their cultural identity. Headspace also provided some useful tips, resources, and information about internalised racism

Read more

 MYAN celebrated International Youth Day (IYD) with our Youth Ambassadors. They came together online on  Instagram and Tiktok to talk about their role as youth advocates and how it related to youth issues they are passionate about. It was a great opportunity to have real insight into the perspective of  young people across Australia and the issues they care about. As part of International Youth Day they went out in their communities to ask their peers about the issues that matter most to them. The themes that came up frequently included youth mental health, youth justice, First Nations justice and employment and education opportunities.

 Thank you for reading. If you would have any feedback please write to us.