AIM
To bring together Sudanese women of all age groups from across Victoria and with representatives from interstate. The conference will focus on issues of health, basic financial literacy, legal rights, and employment and their impact on newly arrived Sudanese women.

WHY
This project will be a great opportunity for Sudanese women to come together and talk about their experiences and to talk about the issues that they face as they settle into their new community.

There are always issues that newly arriving communities find themselves struggling with and without being aware of how much of the education, health and legal system works, are greatly disadvantaged. In order to assist women to better understand and deal with these issues it is important to educate women about their legal rights and equip them with basic financial literacy. Talking to women about health will be very challenging but very important to all age groups, and the conference will provide a safe and comfortable environment for women to discuss health concerns.

A particular focus group for the conference is young single mothers. Raising young children with limited support from fathers or extended family, young Sudanese mothers need the community to listen and support them and to create awareness of the help that is available both from their own community and the wider Australian community. The conference will look to address issues that Sudanese women encounter in their day to day lives.

WHO
Participants will be Sudanese women of all ages from across Australia. They will be joined by a number of women from other communities to assist in developing new links to the wider community. The conference is being organised by Sudanese Lost Boys Association of Australia (SLBAA) and the Ecumenical Migration Centre (EMC).Other organisations assisting with the project include AMES, Newhope Foundation and Centrelink. The project will also involve members from local, state, and federal government and a number of community based agencies.

GOALS

• Create a network for Sudanese women.
• Begin to identify the needs of Sudanese women in Australia and document issues and possible solutions
• Educate women about basic legal rights and financial literacy
• Give services providers an insight from Sudanese women on delivering better services.
• Find an understanding on how to embrace both Sudanese and Australian cultures which seems to be a problem particularly for teenagers.
• Empowering Sudanese young people to establish and maintain relationships with their community

INTERESTED IN HELPING OUT?
If you are interested in helping out with Sudanese Women's National Conference please fill out the Expression of Interest Form and email it to: sudanesewomenconference@gmail.com

Fortnightly Meeting (Starting 22nd March, 2009)
WHERE: Ecumenical Migration Centre (95-97 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy)
TIME: Starts at 2pm and runs for 1 hour.
CONTACT: Send Enquiries Here