CIWA Grapevine Newsletter - April 2017

Welcome to the Calgary Immigrant Women's Association's bi-monthly Grapevine Newsletter! 

CIWA's Youth Forum 2017

CIWA's Youth Forum 2017 was held at the Marlborough Community Association on February 4th with record breaking attendance. The theme of this year's event was 'Empowering Daughters – Embracing Diversity.' The event promoted cross-cultural awareness and understanding between immigrant and mainstream youth, as well as their families. It also celebrated the achievements of the Youth Mentorship Program at CIWA, a program that enhances intercultural understanding and provides youth with opportunities for personal growth through one-on-one support and group sessions. There were 12 community organizations hosting interactive booths at the event.

CIWA honours four outstanding young women with Daughters' Day Awards

From left to right: Daughters' Day Jury Member Jade Duong,  Award Winner Patricia Bacus, Award Winner Hadiqa Jabeen, Award Winner Itohansose Itua, Award Winner Similoluwa Bankole and Daughters' Day Jury Chair Alice Lam

At the fifth annual Youth Forum, on February 4th, four young and exceptional women were bestowed Daughters' Day Awards. These awards celebrate the lives, contributions, and achievements of daughters based on an appreciation of gender equity in our society.

The annual event raises awareness about gender discrimination as well as recognizes daughters who are making a significant contribution to their communities.

Nominations for CIWA’s Daughters’ Day Awards opened in November 2016. Once the nominations were received, a jury met and carefully reviewed the submissions. The jury evaluated each nominee and selected four young daughters as award recipients. The jury consisted of Alice Lam, CIWA Board Member and Chair of the Daughters' Day Awards Jury, Laura Manickaraj, a Daughters’ Day Award recipient in 2014 in Edmonton, Jade Duong, CIWA Board Member and Lourdes Juan,  an urban planner and entrepreneur.

The awards were generously sponsored by Gerda R. Bloemraad, former CIWA Board Chair and Shirley Turnbull, current Board Director.

Stay tuned for nominations for Daughters' Day 2018! More information to come on our website.

Symposium for Elders

CIWA’s Immigrant Seniors in Action Project hosted a Symposium on elder abuse at the John Dutton Theater in the Calgary Public Library on March 7th. The event was well attended and project leaders detailed their findings of elder abuse in their communities. The Symposium was formatted as a round table discussion and was engaging as well as informative. 

CIWA Celebrates International Women's Day

CIWA marked International Women's Day this year by hosting flower ceremonies. The children of the women in CIWA's LINC (Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada) Childcare presented carnations to their mothers and sang songs to celebrate International Women’s Day. CIWA also hosted an outreach table at TransCanada’s International Women’s Day celebration. The celebration included a performance of the Shoe Project and Board Chair Shairoze Damji promoted CIWA’s services at the event. 

CIWA hosts conference on Gender in partnership with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada 

On March 30th and 31st, CIWA and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada hosted a conference entitled Gender, Immigration and Integration: Exploring Innovative and Best Practices. The aim of the conference was to bring together stakeholders working on gender and settlement outcomes from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Northwest Territories and was hosted in Calgary at the Coast Plaza Hotel. In total, 35 agencies sent their delegates to the conference. The conference hosted 7 panellists in two plenary sessions and 12 breakout sessions which included a lived experience panel of CIWA clients. It was a privilege to welcome Stephanie Kirkland, Director General of Settlement Network with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada to the event. The conference was a great opportunity to share insights and best practices.

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