As the home of an estimated 40,000 refugees, Georgia community leaders face many issues in ensuring that newcomers become successfully acclimated, explains Marekia-Cleaveland. "Successful integration is grounded in complex questions of policy and requires the involvement of multiple stakeholders and approaches, and there are few resources on hand at present to help make community integration a success," she notes.
In collaboration with the university's School of Public and International Affairs and Cox Center for International Mass Communication, and the private organization, Refugee Family Services, Marekia-Cleaveland and ICDG will utilize the grant funds to create a forum that brings together academics, community officials, refugee representatives, and others to gather and discuss integration strategies; convene a UGA roundtable on refugee/new immigrant policy and programs, led by students and faculty and staff of the collaborating grant units; and disseminate information on the forum and roundtable findings statewide through various media.
"Our hope is that these activities will enhance awareness and understanding of refugee/immigrant issues among policy makers, leaders, and the general public, and provide a foundation for more collaboration with organizations and institutions doing similar work in the state," Marekia-Cleaveland concludes.
