The World Refugee Day Event on 15 June at the Cape Town Holocaust Centre highlights the economic contributions of migrants and refugees.
On Monday 15 June at the Cape Town Holocaust Centre, women migrants and refugees will share their personal stories of resilience in the face of tremendous barriers to success.
The event, titled “Women in the South African Economy: The Contribution of Migrants and Refugees,” will be held from 5:30pm – 7:30pm.
The participants are part of The Women’s Platform, a new initiative of the Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town. The Women’s Platform is a network of refugee and immigrant women’s community groups that provides mutual support, training, and opportunities for small business development. Seven nationalities are currently represented in the platform, which seeks to be a model for economic and social integration. Representatives from the Women’s Platform member groups will discuss their business plans and social missions, the challenges they face as migrant entrepreneurs, and their visions for the future.
The evening will mark the opening of a new photographic exhibition by Cape Town filmmaker and photographer Nicky Newman, titled Women at Work.
The exhibit captures striking moments from the work life of The Women’s Platform participants.
Newman, well known for her powerful video documentaries, graduated from Rhodes University with degrees in Journalism and Psychology in 1989 and has been making documentary films and training women in developing countries to tell their stories through filmmaking and the media. She has recently shifted her focus to include the wonderful world of stills photography. Visit
The keynote address will be given by Caroline Skinner, Senior Researcher at the African Centre for Cities (ACC) at UCT and Urban Policies Programme Director for the global action-research-policy network Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO). Skinner, whose work focuses on the nature of the informal economy, has taken a keen interest in migrant contributions to the economy in South Africa. She will share timely new research about the role of migrants and refugees in the informal economy.
This World Refugee Day commemoration will not only highlight the gripping life stories of migrants; it will also present a new model for cross-national collaboration among immigrants and South Africans. Learn how you can get involved to create and support economic opportunity for all who live in Cape Town.
WHERE: Cape Town Holocaust Centre, 88 Hatfield Street, Gardens, Cape Town 8001
WHEN: 5:30pm – 7:30pm, Mon 15 June, 2015. The photo exhibition will run at the Cape Town Holocaust Centre until 5 July 2015
INFO: Miranda Madikane, Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town E mmadikane@scalabrini.org.za C 083 380 3572
This World Refugee Day commemoration is cosponsored by the Cape Town Holocaust Centre, Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town, and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR)
