Protectors, Providers, Survivors: A Dialogue with Refugee Women In Finland

This report presents the voices and experiences of the 28 women who participated in the seventh and final UNHCR’s Regional Dialogue with Women and Girls in Helsinki, Finland, in May 2011, as part of the commemoration of the 60th Anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention. During the Dialogue, refugee and asylum-seeking women from 12 communities worked together for four days. The culmination of this work was a presentation to representatives of the Government of Finland, UNHCR staff, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society, who work to support asylum-seekers and refugees across Finland.

Refugee women participated in human rights training and situational analysis, and identified the key problems and issues faced by their communities. These focused on ten global core protection areas proposed by the UNHCR Gender Unit. The appropriateness of these protection areas was tested in the Regional Dialogues in India, Colombia, Jordan, Uganda, Zambia and Thailand. The core protection issues were further adjusted to the context of refugee women in Finland, i.e. that of an industrialized country with a mature refugee system, and once again, they were found to be an accurate and effective vehicle for assessing and identifying the fundamental protection needs of refugee women and girls. While both pre- and post-arrival experiences were discussed by the women, the main focus of the consultation, and of this report, was on their experiences seeking asylum and settling in Finland.