VIDEO: SSI awarded for mental health approach
Settlement Services International (SSI) has been awarded for its ongoing efforts to support and maintain the mental health of refugees and people seeking asylum. At the annual NSW Mental Health Matters Awards in Sydney on September 30, SSI was presented with the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Communities award.
UNHCR Partner consultations and NGO Standing Committee in Geneva
SSI and partner organisations are in Geneva at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees consultations with NGOs. Over two weeks, NGOS from around the world will discuss best practice, lobby for support and plan to ease the global refugee crisis. Here are the top posts from the consultations.
Mums and children enjoy SSI Mother’s Day celebration
A belated Mother’s Day was celebrated by about 60 mothers and 20 children from refugee backgrounds at Old Government House, Parramatta on Tuesday May 12. The women and their children are supported by SSI's Humanitarian Settlement programs. The ‘high tea’ event was a get-together for women in similar situations to socialise, while their children were entertained by face painting, games and craft activities.
Sydney to Tehran: the AUSCO exchange program
Refugees resettling in Australia should benefit from greater cohesion between on- and off-shore programs after Settlement Services International’s Yamamah Agha took part in the Australian Cultural Orientation (AUSCO) Exchange Program to Iran. Ms Agha, the Humanitarian Settlement Services Service Delivery Manager at SSI, experienced firsthand the work done to help prepare refugees and humanitarian visa […]
Harmony Day: “Diversity is our strength”
About 300 staff, volunteers and clients celebrated Australia’s cultural diversity on Harmony Day, with a halal sausage barbecue, music, dancing and a game of soccer. At the event on Friday, March 21, Settlement Services International Humanitarian Services Delivery Manager Yamamah Agha said the message for people to consider was that “everyone belongs”. “Today we are […]
Joy from toys for girls and boys
Settlement Service International’s youngest clients will receive hundreds of toys over the coming weeks thanks to the generosity of local Department of Human Services staff. The idea of a toy drive for refugee families came to the department’s Mount Druitt Multicultural Services Officer David Jacquin while he was making room for new Christmas gifts for […]
Refugee boy battles war trauma on first day of school
Like most children, Noran Zahrooni was terrified of starting school today. But it wasn’t teachers or lessons that had him anxious. The six-year-old and his family arrived in Australia late last year after fleeing war-torn Syria. Father Farhan Zahrooni told SBS his son was traumatised by the conflict and struggled to understand he was now […]