Reducing obstacles to employment with migrant women
On Tuesday, November 14, the first focus group discussion with refugee women from Ukraine took place in Jelgava as part of the project “CeMeWe”. They shared their experience of employment in Latvia, obstacles, challenges, current work experience both in Latvia and Ukraine.
At the beginning of the meeting, the participants introduced themselves and the life they have built in Latvia. From the very beginning, it was mentioned how important it is for these women to communicate with each other, to meet, to be useful and to spend time together. The refugees remember their everyday life and professional life in Ukraine with sadness: dream professions, emotional vocations, talents, skills and also business plans were abandoned.
The focus group discussion was led by Jolanta Voita, project expert, social issues specialist, psychologist, and currently social coordinator of the “International Organization for Migration” (IOM Latvia).
Through conversations and exercises, the meeting identifies needs and problems, on the basis of which new tools will be created to be used in working with refugee women. The lead partner of the Central Baltic Sea Region Programme project “CeMeWe”, Laurea University of Applied Sciences, particularly supports face-to-face meetings and the identification of problems before they are addressed or methodologies are developed, especially as there are 178 000 officially registered refugees from Ukraine in the project partner countries.
The participants of the discussion admit that they cannot live without work and activities – they need ways to realize themselves and feel fulfilled both as individuals and as members of society. However, the Ukrainians acknowledge that there are obstacles in Latvia that prevent them from achieving their professional goals. Language skills are cited as one of the main barriers – express courses are not sufficient enough to learn the language, but without Latvian language skills it is impossible to work in the same profession as in Ukraine. Consequently, the emotional need for self-realization is fulfilled in jobs that are lower-skilled and unsatisfying, even though women have education, knowledge and skills.
In the creative exercise “How I see my next year”, the participants highlighted their desires: to work in their profession, to relax, to travel, to see their partner and family more often, to return to their hobbies and vocations.
The Ukrainian women evaluated the face-to-face meeting positively, saying that it is always useful to meet other Ukrainian women, to be in a community and not to feel alone. This is an opportunity not only to discuss important issues, but also to get new ideas, learn new things, talk and feel a positive energy boost.
