United Nations #WithRefugee world tour stops in Saskatoon
Saskatoon was one of two Canadian stops on the UN's #WithRefugees initiative at the WEconnect job fair to promote the importance of jobs for refugees
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Mayor Charlie Clark has signed his name on a United Nations petition calling on governments to support refugees by making sure they have access to education, employment and safe places to live.
The Open Door Society’s WEconnect Job Fair was chosen to host the Saskatoon stop — one of only two in Canada — of the UN Refugee Agency’s #WithRefugee World Tour.
Visiting 30 cities around the world, the tour aims to promote the campaign and gain as many signatures as possible on a petition to show world leaders that people around the world are dedicated to finding a solution to the global refugee crisis.
“We have become increasingly a global city just in the last few years,” Clark said.
“If you look at the last 10 years we have had 70,000 people move here from all over the world. We’re learning about how you create success among diversity and that each person who comes has a story, an expertise, a talent to offer and if you can create the conditions for them to really share it, we all benefit.”
The WEconnect Job Fair is open to whoever is searching for employment. With the UN #WithRefugees initiative putting so much emphasis on finding jobs for refugees, it was the perfect place to set up a booth and get the message out.
Since 2016, the Open Door Society has welcomed around 900 refugees to the city. One of them was Guk Monylang Among, who came to Saskatoon in June 2017 from South Sudan after spending three years in a refugee camp in Kenya thanks to a private sponsorship from his church.
Among is currently upgrading his education and has a part-time job, thanks to help from the Open Door Society. Having the opportunity to work in his new home is important to him, he said.
“Before I came here, I didn’t have any experience of Canada. So, when I needed to go find a job they say that you need to have experience, so I struggle and I struggle until I go to Open Door.”
Among said he was close to quitting school because he couldn’t afford a bus pass before the Open Door Society helped him find a job, but now he is happily working with hopes of finding full-time employment in the near future.
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