Getting together - building strong and diverse communities

Participants relax outside the Northern Ireland Assembly buildings. Photo: Will Horwitz

Oxfam believes in a society in which people are free from all forms of discrimination. Where everyone, regardless of who they are or where they come from, can live a secure and dignified life. Where communities are strong and diverse, and public services meet everyone's needs.

The situation

We're acting

We're calling for

Poverty isn't just about money. Deprived communities often have worse public services and a poorer living environment. It’s easy to blame problems like these on a minority who are new to the area, or visibly different.

And this, in turn, worsens poverty. Being from an ethnic minority group makes you much more likely to live on a low income in a poorer area. So does being a new migrant, asylum-seeker or refugee.

Discrimination and racism - from individuals and in the way we run our society and government - prevent people moving out of poverty.

This can lead to a vicious cycle of prejudice, misunderstanding and poverty that becomes hard to break.

But breaking it is crucial. Bringing different groups together, helping minority communities understand and demand their rights, and overcoming stereotypes in local communities and in the media are vital to overcoming poverty in the UK.

Meanwhile the government is on the wrong track. Their community cohesion agenda doesn’t focus on overcoming racism, poverty, hostility, and building trust and solidarity. Instead it focuses only on preventing terrorism and pushing black and immigrant communities to integrate with wider society.

What we're doing

Bringing different communities together is one of the most effective ways to overcome racism and discrimination. Which is why we work with partners like Peacemaker in Oldham, who help young Asian and white people get to know each other. And Friends and Neighbours groups in Wales, which support meeting and friendships between asylum seekers, refugees and the local Welsh population.

Working with communities so they can understand their rights and speak out is vital. In Glasgow, we are helping develop a Roma Rights Network, supporting Roma women and men to access their rights to decent housing and employment and hold organisations to account if their needs are not properly addressed.

In Wales, our newest project supports women refugees to demand a say in local and national decisions affecting them.

Peacemaker brings people together. It works with hundreds of young people across Oldham, both in school and in communities, and uses its considerable grassroots experience to influence local, regional and national decision-makers.
One of its latest project, which Oxfam helps fund, brings together young people from the Asian and white communities in Oldham to address factors that make them vulnerable to far-right and religious extremism.
“It doesn’t matter who you are, what culture you’re from, your sex, gender, anything, just don’t isolate yourself. Because once you get to know somebody, it’s very hard to hate them.”
Abab Miah

We’ve also supported national Refugee Week, and funded a free London paper produced by the Migrants Resource Centre, highlighting the positive impact of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in London. Meanwhile the Asylum Positive Images project and network in Scotland has done significant and varied work to improve public attitudes to refugees and asylum seekers there.

At government level, we believe that current policy is on the wrong track - until community cohesion policy addresses the poverty, discrimination and racism that marginalised communities face it will only worsen divisions. We’re running an enquiry into community cohesion policy and will publish the results in 2009.

What we're calling for

Over the last few years the Oxfam-funded Asylum Positive Images project in Glasgow has worked with asylum seekers to overcome the prejudice they face. They’ve worked with the media and within local communities.
Poems like these were written by participants at Scottish Poetry Library workshops and displayed on buses and used with schoolchildren in Scotland.

The government should adopt a community cohesion agenda which focuses on tackling deprivation as the most effective solution to ending tension and conflict.
Anti-discrimination law should be fully implemented and strongly enforced to protect ethnic minorities more effectively from the racism that leads to poverty.
Funding should be available for BME-led groups, recognising that they are essential support to marginalised minority ethnic communities.
Government policy should support Roma communities in the UK to access their rights and live free of poverty and discrimination.
Government should promote fair and positive images of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, recognising their contribution rather than reinforcing hostile views.