We recently had the pleasure to attend an event in Liverpool, led by Sisters Not Strangers. Sisters Not Strangers (SNS) are an inspirational UK-based coalition of 7 organisations that support asylum-seeking and refugee women. They have come together to campaign against the harmful and damaging consequences of asylum policies and how they impact women in particular.
‘See us first as human beings and women, not as refugees and asylum seekers’. The aim of the event was to raise awareness of the movement that is gaining momentum in numerous cities across the UK, and to broaden the support base. There is a powerful and profound message at the heart of everything that Sisters Not Strangers does – that is to ‘see us first as human beings and women, not as refugees and asylum seekers’. Many individuals, and groups from across different sectors attended, in what is hoped to be the first of many such events.
Following this, we delivered a training programme for SNS focussed on building effective campaign strategies, leadership and teamworking. This is part of a wider programme which includes sessions on feminist leadership and fundraising, with other topics coming down the line. We were greatly uplifted by the passion, conviction, resilience, optimism and enthusiasm for learning expressed during the training, all the more remarkable because of the challenges and hardships that they had personally overcome in their own journeys. Their manifesto, which you can read here, states: “we dream of a world where all women who seek asylum are seen was women, as neighbours, as mothers, as colleagues, as activists – as sisters not strangers”.
The important work of SNS reminds us of our shared humanity and why we must look beyond the labels and experiences that can separate, exclude or divide us as human beings. We might say that this is a very ‘human’ intelligence, underpinned by compassionate, creative and courageous leadership.
Reminder of our upcoming webinar on Artificial Intelligence (AI). We would be delighted if you could join us for our next webinar which will explore a new and radically different type of intelligence that is shaping, and will continue to shape, our world in ways that will not necessarily be easy to predict, control or contain – Artificial Intelligence. Click here for the webinar flyer and here for our last newsletter on AI.
Webinar: Artificial Intelligence: what is it, and how can we harness its potential for good?
Date: 13th March 2024
Time: 12:00 to 13:30 GMT
Where: Zoom
To register for the event click here.
We hope this will be an opportunity to discuss with others, from a range of organisations, questions such as :
What will the opportunities and challenges, potentials and pitfalls, of AI mean for organisations like Sisters Not Strangers in the years to come?
How can the women of Sisters Not Strangers ensure that their message ‘see us first as human beings’ is heard loud and clear?
How can we best address the many concerns about biased algorithms which can result in AI amplifying the worst of human prejudice and systemic discrimination? (Click here to read an article about this)
Please share this invite with anyone you think would be interested to attend.
Change Maker of the Week
Quote of the Week: ‘Imagine humans and AI not as rivals in a race, but as partners in a symphony. Each with unique strengths, together composing a future richer than either could achieve alone’.
This was generated by Google’s AI function, Gemini, in response to the prompt – ‘craft an inspiring quote about human and artificial intelligence’.
Best wishes
Rosie, Kemal, Lorna and Ian