Guidelines for intercultural best practice in local service provision

Foreword
Introduction
Profile
Policy Development
Language
Case Study
Consultation sessions and information fair
Case Study
Access Ireland cultural mediation project
Appendices

FOREW0RD

Diverse City – North West Inner City and Multiculturalism Foreword

Dublin was founded in the 9th Century by Vikings who came from Norway and Denmark. Following the construction of Wood Quay from disused longboats and timber from Oxmantown forest, the Norse, bridging the Liffey, presented the Welsh monk Mo Cynog with the opportunity to site a travellers hostel at the Northside landing staging of the ford of hurdles, thus giving the name Baile Atha Cliath to the city. Viking Road is a reminder of the Viking settlement in the north west inner city. Indeed the names of several streets in the north west inner city reflect the international and multi-cultural dimension of the place, from Montpelier Hill, named after an area in France, to Coleraine Street. Many streets around the markets area were called after northern towns because of the connection with the linen trade. They were home to a large Church of Ireland population and some housing estates around that area were built by the clergy. Palatine Square was named after the Palatines, a Protestant sect from Germany who settled in the Dublin 7 area, just as the Hugenots who were expelled from France settled in the Liberties area of Dublin 8. Greek Street was so named because of its ethnically diverse population; at that time people from overseas were referred to generically as Greek. Historically, the area has a strong multi-faith background, with places of worship for Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, and Methodist, Church of Ireland, African Evangelical and Jewish communities. The presence of market places and the military barracks distinguishes this district from the rest of the city. The marketplaces provided the space for social intercourse with eight locations including the medieval Daisy Market, which is now sadly closed. The location of army barracks in the neighbourhood reinforced the cultural mix under the British administration. In fact, there is evidence that black soldiers serving in the British army married local women in the vicinity of the Royal Barracks (now Museum at Collins Barracks) widening the ethnic profile of the area. It is significant that the north west inner city has provided sanctuary for many people from all over the world seeking asylum from oppression. The location of the successful Sport Against Racism Ireland (SARI) organisation in the area is no coincidence, receiving strong local support for its annual events. I believe that the setting up by the community sector of the Intercultural Working Group is a very progressive initiative that should be copied by other social partners and I am pleased to have been invited by the working group to write the foreword for this Good Practice Guide and I hope it will be used extensively in the local community.

Ken McCue
MA Studies
European Cultural Planning
De Montfort University
Leicester

Introduction

The Intercultural Working Group of the North West Inner City Area Network was set up in 2000 and is made up of representatives from local organisations from the Dublin 7 Inner City Area. Since then the group has undertaken various activities with a view to supporting the development of a harmonious and positive interaction between the various ethnic cultures that make up the community.

Our aims include:

Raising awareness and actively promoting intercultural issues in the north west inner city.
Creating an appropriate environment in which to work on intercultural, refugee and immigrant issues in Ireland and supporting this with training when necessary.
Developing strategies that actively improve the awareness and inclusiveness of intercultural issues in service provision in the North west inner city.
Advocating and lobbying for culturally inclusive and representative policy formulation and development that affects people living in the north west inner city.

With this good practice guide to interculturalism we hope to promote the development of good intercultural practices in organisations, businesses, shops and service providers operating in the area. While we hope that employees at all levels will be able to get something out of this guide it is primarily aimed at staff working at ground level who are responsible for day-to-day running and service delivery.

We see this guide as being exactly that a guide; something that you can adapt to suit your own organisations needs. It may be something that you can to refer back to intermittently as issues arise in your work. It may act as a starting point for you to develop your own intercultural policies and practices. We hope that this guide will stimulate, inspire, instigate critical reflection and finally bring about change.

The obvious question is: What do we mean by interculturalism?

For the purpose of this guide we have decided to use the definition used by the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism (NCCRI):

Interculturalism suggests the acceptance not only of the principles of equality of rights, values and abilities but also the development of policies to promote interaction, collaboration and exchange with people of different cultures, ethnicity or religion It is an approach that sees difference as something positive that can enrich a society and recognise racism as an issue that needs to be tackled in order to create a more inclusive society. 1

If interculturalism is closely linked to equality the question arises; what do we mean by equality? Again we would like to refer to the NCCRIs guidelines:

‘Equality is not about treating people the same, because different groups of people have different needs, different groups….experience discrimination in different areas of life in different ways. Treating everyone the same can have the effect of being an indirect form of discrimination when it is clear that some groups have much greater needs than others. Equality is about securing equality of opportunity, equality of participation and equality of outcome.’

We would like to thank you for taking an interest in interculturalism and hope that you will find this guide helpful. If you are interested in becoming more involved in please feel free to contact the North West Inner City Area Network about joining or assisting the Intercultural Working Group.

1 NCCRI (November 2001), Guidelines on Anti-Racism and Intercultural Training, p.6

Profile

There is anecdotal evidence that the north west inner city has among the highest populations of immigrant communities. Accurate statistics and information regarding ethnic minorities, however, remain exceedingly difficult to obtain. Very few service providers monitor or record the nationality of their clients, with exception to the NAHB and Department of Education and Science.

Although the Health Board retains records of the number of asylum seekers receiving social welfare benefits, these statistics do not accurately portray the number of varied ethnicities represented in the population of the north west inner city area.

The Department of Education and Science, however, keeps records of the number of children from immigrant communities at each school, in order to allocate sufficient resource teachers to work with these students. From this information, in January 2003, four local primary schools3 in the north west inner city had approximately 112 children of different ethnicities and nationalities in attendance. Of this figure, the following countries were represented:

Somalia,
Congo,
Senegal,
Portugal,
Sierra Leone,
India,
Cuba,
Zimbabwe,
Ecuador,
Philippines,
Venezuela,
Angola,
Bulgaria,
Italy,
Lithuania,
Nigeria,
Bangladesh,
Moldova,
Romania,
Russia,
Rwanda,
Kosovo,
Poland,
Ukraine,
Fiji, and
Albania.

In addition, a survey of inner city pre-school facilities in November 2002 by the Inner City Childcare Network, demonstrated that 33 different nationalities/ethnic groups were represented among clients.

In order to best respond to the needs of a diverse and multicultural community, it is most important that service providers collate information to profile their clients, detailing the various ethnicities and languages of peoples in the north west inner city.

3 Presentation Primary School Georges Hill, St. Pauls CBS, St. Gabriel's and Stanhope Street Primary School.

Policy Development

Why?

By having an Intercultural policy in your organisation you are clearly stating your commitment to treating people of different cultures, nationalities, religions etc. in a fair, respectful and inclusive way. It sets out the vision or mission statement that your organisation has with regard to interculturalism. It is a document that can be referred back to when you are devising other strategies, policies or plans for your organisation. You will be able to check whether your new plans, policies etc. are consistent with your agreed intercultural policy.

How?

Your policy on interculturalism should be one that is suited to your organisation. This means that ideally it should be developed by your own staff. Involving as many people as possible in the development of your policy will help to create a feeling of ownership as well as in itself raise awareness of intercultural issues, get people thinking and create a starting point for further discussion, reflection, etc. If on the other hand just a few people at management level issue the policy it is likely to land in a drawer not to be used or consulted again.

What

Your intercultural policy could sound something like this:

It is our aim to create an environment and work in a way that respects people from all different cultures, nationalities, religions, linguistic and ethnic groups, gender or sexual orientation. No one should be discriminated against in any manner, be this direct or indirect. In our policies and practices we will consider and respond to the different needs of all our client and staff group.

We state clearly that harassment, abuse or discrimination on any of the above grounds is not tolerated and action will be taken against any such behaviour.’ However your policy is phrased, it will state that discrimination and racial and sexual harassment are not tolerated and that there are complaints procedures to follow should incidences occur.

Complaints and Grievance Procedure

All public services must now adhere to the Equal Status legislation (2000) and the Employment Equality Act (1998). While staff and Irish citizens are probably aware of this legislation, the same is not necessarily true for people from different countries and cultures. Refugees in particular may come from countries where human rights and equality rights are disregarded and abused regularly. Institutions and state agencies may be corrupt. We can therefore not assume that refugees or recently arrived immigrants know about or trust equality legislation in Ireland. It is therefore important to have a clearly stated anti-discrimination policy that is accessible to all your clients irrespective of their background. What this means in practice is:

Having a policy that is written in straightforward, jargon-free language.
Having your policy translated into relevant key languages.
Having your policy clearly displayed and having leaflets available to take way.
If you have an ongoing service for a client (for example in schools) explain to your clients / students what your equality policy means and how it works.
Having information about your policy that is suitable for people with literacy problems.
Have a designated person to deal with complaints and make it clear who this person is.
If complaints proceedings are initiated an interpretation service must be made available to ensure that proceedings are fair, accessible and effective for people from ethnic minorities.

Then?

Having an intercultural policy in itself is not going to go very far to promote intercultural practice. As a next step a plan of action should be developed. Practical steps to actually do something about making your organisation more intercultural should be considered.

What you actually do will of course depend on what type of organisation you are. The following are some initial suggestions:

Creating Contact and Consultation

Profiling of Communities

Know who is in your catchment area. Ideally you should have an up-to-date, accurate picture of your communities social and economic status, i.e. where and how they live, their age, the kind of work they do, their access to social and educational facilities, etc. Unfortunately this type of information is not always readily available. However, we have included a small and basic profile of the communities in the north west inner city. (see section 2)

Consultation

find out from the client group what it is they want and how they need a particular service delivered. If you do not establish contact with people who can articulate their communities needs there is a risk that your services will be based on (false) assumptions and stereotypes and that your services / offers / plans will not be successful. For example, we may assume that asylum seeker women are interested in doing a cooking class, when in actual fact they want to take a course in computers or business studies.

Women

When arranging any type of consultation or service consider that different groups have different needs and it should not be assumed that one person can speak for the whole group. This is a particularly sensitive issue with regard to women. In some cultures it may not be appropriate for women to talk out in a group with men and therefore it may be better to organise a separate consultation for the women. This also means that the facilitator or organiser should be a woman. However, it may be necessary to seek the agreement and co-operation from the husbands or men in the community first. Don't forget childcare. Women may not be able to participate unless they feel they can either bring their children along or some form of childcare is provided.

Translation and Interpretation

If the groups you want to work with do not speak English you will have to think about the question of interpretation. Ideally when organising a consultation meeting the facilitator should be able to speak the appropriate language. If this is not possible then the second option is to organise an interpreter. This not only enables those consulted to be able to express their views in a more confident and comfortable way, it also shows that you value peoples own languages and that you are making a particular effort.

Access Ireland has recently started a community interpretation service that offers cultural interpretation and mediation in several languages. For further information contact Access Ireland (see appendix). Alternatively we suggest that you engage the services of a professional interpretation agency. We do not recommend using children, friends, or family members. (See the section on language)

Publicity

Once you have consulted your client group and have established a plan of action, you will need to ensure that your target audience finds out about your service. How will you publicise your service? People from migrant and ethnic minority communities may not access the same sources of information as Irish people. In contemporary Europe information is predominantly relayed in written form. People coming from countries with low literacy rates or from an oral tradition may have difficulty accessing written information.

There are other non-written -ways to market / publicise your service. You can promote your service at community venues, campaign meetings, festivals, open days or on local radio. You can take part at an information fair where you can meet potential clients in person and they will have the opportunity to put a face to a service.

Written information should be jargon-free and clear. If possible have it translated into key languages. Include pictures and images that people can identify with. Images on the one hand assist people with literacy problems and on the other hand can help to promote a positive image of ethnic minorities.

Advertisements and information can be distributed to organisations that are in regular contact with the client group you want to contact. Again you can request to advertise in ethnic minority shops, community centres, places of worship, doctors surgeries, welfare offices, post offices, and other venues that are frequented by migrant and ethnic community members.

Other possibilities are newsletters and local papers. Metro Eireann is a Dublin based multicultural newspaper that is widely distributed. Other local support groups may have their own newsletters.

Environment

Organisations should aim to create an environment that is welcoming and inclusive of people from minority groups.

Images

Posters and pictures that portray a positive and non-stereotypical image can work towards creating such an environment. Signs in other languages or pictures rather than words also make places more accessible and welcoming.

Food

On occasions where food is served, in your canteen or at celebrations, offer vegetarian, Halal, or kosher options.

Holidays / Festivities

Consider non-Christian holidays and festivals. Even if you do not celebrate non-Christian holidays, you may want to acknowledge them in some way or other.

Training

Interculturalism is also about becoming aware of our own prejudiced views and challenging our own and others attitudes and behaviour. As part of a comprehensive staff development programme anti-racist and intercultural training should be offered to ALL staff within an organisation. This includes everyone from cleaning and maintenance staff to directors. For further information on training we recommend you contact the NCCRI (National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism) or Access Ireland.

Recruitment of staff from ethnic minorities

A long-term aim is to have representatives from ethnic minorities at all levels of an organisation, from ground level staff to the board of directors. This not only ensures that issues particular to ethnic minorities are taken into consideration, but also that staff from ethnic minorities may act as positive role models.

Monitoring

It is a good idea to consistently monitor the contact and work of your organisation in relation to people, whether staff or clients, from ethnic minorities. Be aware of how many people you are in contact with who are from different nationalities, linguistic groups, cultures etc. Have certain groups not accessed your service? Were people from ethnic minorities accessing your services and are not any more? Why?

By putting in place procedures for monitoring your services you will be able to find out who you are reaching and who not. You will be able to identify necessary changes and new initiatives more easily. If you are evaluating your services make sure that people from ethnic minorities who attend your service also evaluate it and give you feedback.

(This section is informed by Dadzie, Stella (1997) Adult Education in Multi-ethnic Europe: A Handbook for Organisational Change. NIACE, Leicester.)

Language

A fluid communication between service providers and clients is essential for the efficient delivery of any public service. Language can become the most impeding barrier to accessing and profiting from public services. That is the situation in which many minority language speakers find themselves. They rightly feel discriminated when the public service fails to take the proper measures to provide a service to which they are equally entitled. However, the language barrier is not the only obstacle that clients from ethnic minorities find when trying to access and use public services.

Lack of English language will not only impact on the access to the service. When the service is approached it is more than likely that its quality will not be as good as that offered to a fluent English speaker.

Clients who have a limited level of English face similar problems. They might be able to carry a social conversation comfortably, but when it comes to talking about more serious issues in a foreign language it becomes much more difficult.

To expect or even obligate people to have the facility to communicate in English at a fluent level soon after they arrive in Ireland is unrealistic and discriminatory. Many immigrants, especially women, cannot access English classes; they might have children or live far away from language training facilities. Moreover, minority language speakers will continue to arrive and it is the obligation of service providers to take the appropriate measures to ensure that their clients avail of their service on an equal basis. The fact that the service is available to everybody does not mean that it is accessible to ethnic minorities who might not speak English fluently.

Service providers, generally monolingual, often undervalue the effort and time that it takes to learn a language to a level that goes beyond the informal conversation. It is especially difficult to speak confidently when distressed or when talking about sensitive issues. Equally, understanding a native English speaker becomes almost impossible in telephone conversations when the subject matter is of a delicate nature. Furthermore, it is often easier to pretend to have understood, by repeating "ok" than continuing to ask the service provider to repeat themselves. This can give the service provider the false impression of successfully dealing with the client.

Difficulties in communication cause frustration for service providers and for clients. For non-native English speakers that frustration can turn into insults when native speakers address them in an unusually loud and slow tone. Many of the ethnic minority immigrants residing around your area speak a few languages, yet, they have to tolerate patronizing attitudes because they speak poor English or speak with a strong accent. This can result in the cessation of usage of services by ethnic minorities.

If equality is to be taken seriously, providing for minority languages is a requirement that needs to be met by service providers. We encourage you to find out the languages that are spoken by the community groups that are likely to use your service and have a list of interpreters who you can access.

Be aware that speaking a foreign language doesn't make anyone a skilful interpreter.

Ensure that the interpreter that you are going to use is trained as such and that s/he abides to a code of practice which contains at a minimum, the elements of confidentiality, neutrality, accuracy, and professionalism. A professional interpreter not only knows his/her role and limits, and the appropriate terminology he or she is using, but should possess cultural competence and linguistic skills which will enable the transfer of meanings from one language to another and understanding the non-verbal messages.

The interpreter not only needs to be bilingual but also bicultural and should be able to explain without prejudice to the provider cultural aspects of the client's background, which will facilitate communication and help mutual understanding.

Providers delivering services around sensitive issues such as domestic violence or sexuality are very reluctant to use interpreters lest confidentiality is not respected. In these services professional interpreters are most needed. This unwillingness might be due to bad experiences with untrained interpreters. Trained interpreters know how to behave professionally, convey messages with accuracy and establish a good relationship of trust with service providers.

Providing a service using interpreters requires training, it is important to ensure that your staff get this training in order to understand the interpreter's role and duties, and the boundaries that providers should respect when working with them.

We recommend you consider the following guidelines:

Promote research in your local area on different resident communities and their specific language needs.
Use trained and professional interpreters.
Don't use children or family members to act as interpreters.
Interpreting is a profession that should be recognised as such and should be rewarded accordingly.
Translate your information leaflets in various languages and make sure they are culturally appropriate and inclusive of all communities around your area.
Don't limit the promotion of your service to written material.
Speak clearly and slowly. Don't use idioms or cultural expressions. Avoid using sayings and technical words.
Be open and tolerant to different ways of expressing messages without jumping to conclusions or stereotyping.
Be prepared to paraphrase messages using different words to help communication.
Check regularly that you have been understood.
Encourage intercultural communication training for your staff or organization.
Recruit cultural mediators who could act as a link and outreach workers and provide intercultural training for your staff.
It is better not to use the expression non-nationals when referring to immigrants. Non-national would indicate that the person doesn't pertain to any nation. An Italian student might be a non-Irish national but he is an Italian national. Other times the term is used to describe a minority ethnic person, but he or she could very well be an Irish citizen. Therefore he or she would be an Irish national.

Case Study 1

One of the first tasks the Intercultural Working Group undertook was to organise a consultation session with people from immigrant communities, in order to ascertain what barriers they faced in accessing local services.

This exercise was undertaken to address a lack of information on the needs of new communities living in the Dublin 7 inner city area.

A local venue the Aughrim Street Parish Centre on Prussia Street was booked for a consultation session in September 2001.

Information leaflets advertising the event were distributed to two local hostels that house asylum seekers and posters were displayed in local venues. A member of the Intercultural Working Group made a follow-up visit to each hostel to invite members of new communities to participate.

The Working Group linked with local refugee support groups such as Spirasi and Access Ireland to promote the consultation day. The event was also publicised through one-to-one contact and word of mouth.

The Intercultural Working Group tried to facilitate the involvement of new communities by providing translation and supporting people with parenting responsibilities. Facilitators were selected who could speak the languages most common among new communities living in the Dublin 7 area, namely French, Romanian, Russian, and English.

An on-site childcare service was made available during the consultation session with immigrant communities, so that parents would be able to attend. Seventeen people participated in total.

Discovering barriers to local service accessibility

Participants were asked to identify a range of local service providers, both community and statutory, and to describe their experiences of accessing services and supports. They were also asked what they thought needed to change within local service provision in order to better accommodate their needs.

The consultation session gleaned important information on how immigrant communities interact with and perceive local service providers.

The main barriers they cited in accessing services were:

Language barriers and communication difficulties
Careless attitude towards individual cases (indifference on the part of the service provider)
Unapproachable or unhelpful staff in some services
Cancellation of appointments and the waiting period to make another appointment
Overcrowding of services (Housing, Health, Justice)
Lack of information (inaccessible information)
Poor maintenance (accommodation)

Participants interaction with certain service providers was deemed more positive than others, e.g. services provided by the Public Health Nurses in particular were commended. They made suggestions for improving local service provision, such as having a Public Health Nurse from an ethnic minority background to work with members of new communities, which they felt would create a better understanding of the needs of new communities.

The second phase of the consultation was to meet with local service providers and relay information to them on the needs of immigrant communities. The aim was to prompt local community and statutory service providers to reflect on their own work practices and develop culturally sensitive work policies and practices in partnership with the immigrant communities they serve.

This full day session took place in October 2001 in Carmichael House.

Participating agencies represented a range of statutory and community services, including community development workers, FÁS representatives, community training centres, childcare facilities, schools, women's group, drugs projects, youth services, Public Health Nurses, and organisations working directly with new communities.

The facilitator guided the group through a discussion on institutional barriers to interculturalism, proposals for change and practical steps individuals could take within their organisation to promote interculturalism.

Participants identified a number of key issues for service providers working with immigrant communities, such as cultural and language barriers, information on local services not filtering down to new communities and limited access to certain entitlements (e.g. training programmes and employment schemes).

They also proposed strategies for change, such as a national strategy to address interculturalism, adopting anti-racism training policies in private and public sectors, developing structures to influence policies, working closely with immigrant communities themselves and encouraging their participation.

Bridging new communities and service providers

Following the two consultation sessions, the working group wished to improve the level of information on local services available to immigrant communities. We did this by hosting an Information Fair, held in November 2001 in Aughrim Street Parish Centre.

Local service providers were invited to take a stall at the fair and present information on their services to immigrant communities. A wide range of organisations were represented on the day from statutory agencies and training organisations, to community and voluntary groups.

The event was advertised locally. Local school children participated in a competition to design a poster on the theme of interculturalism that was used to promote the event.

Again, childcare was available on-site to support parents who wished to participate. Entertainment was organised for children, and a group of African singers entertained the adult audience. Light refreshments were provided.

Over one hundred people attended the event, which culminated in a debate on the topic of multiculturalism in Ireland.

Outcomes

The consultation sessions and information fair achieved the following outcomes.

Stimulated public awareness of the needs of immigrant communities
Encouraged service providers to reflect on the accessibility of their own services
Made information available on the range of local services thus supporting integration
Involved members of immigrant communities and listened to their views

Case Study 2

Cultural mediation may be defined as the process through which a person who could be termed a culturalmediatoror a bi-cultural link worker, facilitates communication when misunderstandings or conflicts due to cultural and linguistic differences pose actual or potential barriers between people of different backgrounds and service providers.

Aims

Using a community development approach, to establish a Cultural Mediation and Interpreting service with the goal of improving the utilization of health and social services by people seeking refuge in Ireland.

Functions of a cultural mediator:

Communicating link between service providers and the minority ethnic/refugee community.
Facilitating access to services by providing information.
Providing support and encouragement so that clients can promote their own needs and interests.
Delivering training and awareness-raising sessions for service providers.
Developing resource materials production that would be of use to service providers in developing intercultural awareness around particular issues and materials for the refugee / minority ethnic communities aimed at health promotion by improving their knowledge and understanding of services.

We have endeavoured to give you some information that will help as a starting point in intercultural work. The following appendices of further resources maybe of assistance to you as you aim to promote an inclusive environment in the delivery of your service in the north west inner city.

Appendices

Organisations

Access Ireland Dominick Court 40-41 Dominick Street Lower, Dublin 1 01 878 0589 www.accessireland.ie
Equality Authority Clonmel Street, Dublin 2 01 417 3333 info@equality.ie
Integrating Ireland 10 Upper Camden Street, Dublin 2 01 478 3490 www.integratingireland.ie
NCCRI (National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism) 20, Harcourt Street, Dublin 2 01 478 5777 www.nccri.com
Pavee Point 46 North Great Charles Street, Dublin 1 01 878 0255 www.paveepoint.ie
Resource Centre for Development Education NCDE (The Development and Education Unit of Ireland Aid) Bishop's Square Redmond's Hill, Dublin 2 01 478 9456 www.ncde.ie
Trocaire Resource Centre 12, Cathedral St. Dublin 1 01 874 3875 www.trocaire.org
YARD (Youth Action against Racism and Discrimination) NCYI (National Youth Council of Ireland) 3 Montague Street, Dublin 2 01 478 4122 www.yard.ie

Publications

RESOURCES PACKS

Carly. UNHCR (United Nations High Commission Refugees) 1999. 27, Upper Fitzwilliam Street, Dublin 2 Tel 01 632 86 80 Video pack that contains an animated film, teachers' notes and students' activities on the themes of cultural differences and exile. Age 8-12. Free of charge.
Celebrating Difference: An Intercultural Programme for Senior Primary Classes. Crosscare & Blackrock Teachers' Centre 1996. Available from Trocaire. Programme to explore cultural difference through the themes of difference, homes and belonging. Age 8-12 years.
Early Years Pack. Pavee Point. Set of colour posters and picture sequence cards that represent children from a variety of backgrounds, cultures and ethnic groups and are for use in creches, pre-schools and early primary education settings.
Ireland-All Different All Equal. An Anti-Racism and Equality Education Pack. NYCI/DEFY, 1995 Age +14 Games and activities for dealing with prejudice and intolerance within schools, youth clubs and community groups.
New Europeans. Video study pack to promote discussion on anti-racism in the new Europe. IBT, 1999. Age 13-15. Available from NCDE. Four videos made by young directors from different European countries with different views about multiculturalism, which stimulate discussion on stereotyping, racism and xenophobia.
Schools and Clubs against Racism Education Pack. NCYI and the Coordinating Committee for European Year against Racism. Activities addressed to young people of all ages on racism and difference.
Toolkit for tackling racism in schools. Trentham Books, 2000. Available from NCDE. Terminology, legal obligations and approaches to tackling racism,practical classroom activities, staff training activities and good practice checklists.
What? Me a racist? Age 13-15. European Commission (Ireland), 1998. 18, Dawson St. Dublin 2. 01 662 5113. Cartoon book for young people to explore racism and prejudice. Free of charge.

CULTURAL INFORMATION

Customs clearance European Cultural Foundation. 32, Nassau St. Dublin 2 Document designed to identify some of the main cultural differences between Irish nationals and foreign nationals in relation to language, daily living habits, religion, social interaction, medical issues, birth, law and the role of intercultural education. Listings of organisations. Free of charge.
Intercultural Resource File. 2002, Access Ireland. Includes information on five of the cultural groups from which people seeking refuge in Ireland come: Angola, Congo, Nigeria, Roma and Romania, and guidelines on culturally sensitive and inclusive practice.
Roma in Ireland - an initial needs analysis. A research report about the Roma community in Ireland including an overview of the Roma community, racism and discrimination, exclusion, legal status and asylum seeking process, education, accommodation and recommendations for implementing community development strategies. 2002. Pavee Point Publications

GENERAL

Changing faces-Changing places. A guide to multicultural books for children. IBBY Ireland. 20, Victoria Road Rathgar Dublin 6
Development Education Resources Guide. NCDE Resources in the area of development education, anti-racism and interculturalism.
Eist: Respecting diversity in early childhood care, education and training. Pavee Point Publication, 2001. An intercultural approach in creches, Montessori and early primary education.
Equality in Community Development. Anti-Racist Code of Practice. The National Community Development Programme. The Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs.
Guidelines for developing a whole organisation approach to addressing racism and supporting cultural diversity. 2003, NCCRI Free of charge.
Promoting an intercultural workplace: examples of good practice. Equality Authority. Clonmel Street, Dublin 2 01 417 3333 Free of charge.

WEBSITES

www.tolerance.org: US site with information and resources for children, students and teachers. Links.
www.unitedagainstracism.org: list of 550 organisations from 49 countries working on refugees, racism, discrimination, nationalism and intercultural issues.
www.un.org/cyberschoobus: UN website. Racism and anti-racism resources for students and teachers, list of organisations.
http://artsednet.getty.edu: lesson plans and curriculum ideas to work in interculturalism and diversity through arts.

TRAINING PROVIDERS

NCCRI
Access Ireland

Checklist

What your organisation can do practically to promote interculturalism:

Visual materials display posters, a sign saying This organisation does not tolerate racism, copies of Metro Eireann, etc.
Cultural events celebrate different religious events, intercultural events, food, music, etc.
Share positive stories about people from different ethnic backgrounds who use this service
Attend conferences relating to anti-racism access information and publications
Develop an anti-racism policy
Have a committee / nominate a person responsible and accountable for the implementation of the policy
Introduce a complaints procedures
Provide training
Access funding and resources to develop intercultural practices
Comply with equality legislation be informed of equality legislation and implement it in your organisation
Cater for diverse needs i.e. prayer room, allocation of annual leave, childcare, educational materials and tools (schools and childcare should reflect a multicultural society
Provide induction or orientation for people from new communities to learn about your organisation
Offer access to interpreters and translation services translate literature
Develop links with immigrant communities to inform them about your organisation, to seek advice on how your organisation can be more open to them, etc.
Introduce systems to monitor and evaluate assess how many people from ethnic minorities have used your service through ethnic data collection
Advertise different events you are holding

Intercultural Working Group Membership

Access Ireland
An Garda Siochana
An Síol
Ana Liffey Drug Project
Aosog
CDVEC Asylum Seekers and Refugee Education Project
Dublin Inner City Partnership
Inner City Employment Service
Merchants Quay Ireland
North West Inner City Area Network
North West Inner City Womens Network
Step by Step Child and Family Project

Published by the Intercultural Working Group of the North West Inner City Network Spade Centre, North King Street, Dublin 7. Tel (01) 617 4847 Fax (01) 677 1558 Email nwic@indigo.ie

March 2003

Funding for this report and activities of the Intercultural Working Group provided by Know Racism, Combat Poverty Agency and Dublin Inner City Partnership.

Report compiled by:

Mags Barrett,
Tracy Burnett,
Mayte Calvo,
Stephanie Conlon,
Emer Coveney,
Otilia Cozma,
Michelle Kelly,
Anna Kilkenny,
Akiem Majola,
Sharon Power,
Begona Trujillo,
Jennifer Wallace,
Jessica Wanzenbock,
Pat Barrett,
Tanya Watson.

created & designed by