Community Cohesion

Migration is often an emotive topic, making it challenging to question long-held assumptions and engage in constructive discourse. To overcome these challenges, we organise events and activities that are informative, appealing, and relevant to UK communities, attracting a wide range of audiences. Spaces for engagement between receiving communities and migrants are also created to facilitate sustainable relationships between diverse groups.

IOM UK is a member of the Refugee Week partnernship, a nationwide programme of arts, cultural and educational events that celebrates the contribution of refugees to the UK and encourages a better understanding between communities. Refugee Week takes place every year around June 20th, to mark World Refugee Day.

Community Sponsorship

In July 2016, the UK government launched the Community Sponsorship scheme, enabling community groups to directly support resettled refugees by taking on financial responsibility and supporting initial service provision for the refugees they sponsor. The launch of this scheme is an important step not only in meeting the UK’s commitment to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees by 2020, but also in supporting community involvement and innovation in the welcoming and integration of refugees.

In the UK, IOM supports Community Sponsorship by  providing key cultural information about refugees during community sponsorship induction workshops. If you would like to know more about IOM’s support to community sponsors, please contact iomuk@iom.int.