Many women face difficulties entering the labor market, especially women with an immigrant or refugee background.

 

Many organizations provide assistance to facilitate their entry into the labor market by providing the necessary information and available opportunities as well as by providing various professional training in French and Dutch. 

 

However, due to language barriers, many women still struggle.

 

During our workshops, we learned that our participants were unaware of the support that is available to them in their community.  

 

Therefore, having a translator in their mother tongue is essential for support to be effective.  Removing the language barrier presents clear information and allows the opportunity for questions. 

 

In addition, all participants had the chance to communicate directly with a delegate from each of these organizations.  The organizations benefited from working with us because they had an opportunity to learn about the direct needs and desires of this population, assessing gaps in services, and understanding obstacles. 

 

"You cannot just give a brochure to any immigrant or refugee and ask them to explore the information available on your website." RWAN.

 

Most women, especially those with refugee or migrant backgrounds, are facing difficulties in accessing education, work, and integration due to a lack of digital literacy and equipment.  

 

These issues are exacerbated by language barriers, especially since most of the organizations' websites are only available in the two official languages (Dutch and French).

 

DLA Piper's participation in our workshops was of great interest to the participants. DLA Piper presented the "know your rights" session.  This session was targeted to teach refugee and immigrant women about "The Belgian job market" and "Contracts and specific employment regulations in Belgium".  Topics covered included  “where to look for a job?”,  “How to write your CV?”,  “how to prepare for an interview?”,  “What type of job contract?”, “termination of employment contracts”, and “unemployment allowance”.

 

EAVI also provided training to support migrant and refugee women to know their rights when they tell their stories.  Topics included “what are the questions you may encounter?”, “How to Check Online Information Sources” and “Where can you report to any hate speech in Belgium?”.