The VOICES Network are a group of experts-by-experience on refugee and asylum issues in the UK.
As VOICES Ambassadors we share some of our experience to: change minds (through engaging with the media), change policy (through engaging in advocacy) and change practice (through influencing and shaping British Red Cross services).
Policies and services are too often designed and determined without considering the VOICES of experts-by-experience. While the media routinely report on the problems of forced migration, and yet solutions designed to enhance integration rarely embrace the diverse skills, qualifications and experiences of refugees themselves as part of the solution. The VOICES Network provides a route for experts-by-experience to make positive social change at different levels – services, strategy and policy, and broader society.
Earlier in 2019, all our local networks across the UK adjourned to vote on their 2019 priority areas. The Network are amplifying their voices around: the right to work, access to education, effective asylum process, detention, accommodation/housing, and family reunion. Rather than relentlessly criticising the barriers in asylum and migration area, we simply believe that these experiences and stories should be heard, and taken into account while designing policies and practices. Because, refugee VOICES matter. See how our ambassadors define VOICES Network:
“There are people out there who don’t know how to channel their grievances when they think that there should be a change in asylum policy. As a Voices ambassador I am trained to know how to and where to meet people who can create this change.” Godwin
“Voices Network is a platform for me to express my views, opinions, my lived experiences during or after the asylum process. It may also help the world understand how to deal with those negative issues that people are fleeing their countries and how best to deal with these issues.” Itai
See below what our ambassadors think about VOICES Network and follow our twitter account to stay up-to-date @VOICES__Network:
The Voices Network 