Rainbow Refugee Society

Published purpose

This 31-month project will address organizational capacity needs of the RC4R and promote collaborative knowledge generation and dissemination amongst the emerging national network of LGBTQ2 refugee civil society organizations in order to offer LGBTQ2 newcomers safety, care, and resources for resilience, as well as opportunities for livelihood and civic participation. In Phase 1 of the project, organizational capacity building will be enhanced through the development of RC4R’s governance structure; expansion and formalization of its membership using a community of practice model; and, conducting needs assessments of regional hubs and the National network. Knowledge generation will be enhanced through a literature review, environmental scan, and focus groups, as well as the sharing of information via regional hubs and a national consultation in order to inform priority setting for community building and advocacy efforts. Phase 2 of the project will focus on building capacity for leadership and participation by LGBTQ+ refugee newcomers in the advocacy, program development and knowledge mobilization work of RC4R. Each of the regional hubs will establish an advocacy advisory group comprised of people with lived expertise. Recognizing the need to support trans and gender diverse participation, RC4R will establish a trans gender diverse caucus within the community of practice, with regional and national convenings. Fostering community-based supports for LGBTQ+ refugee newcomers in recovery from persecution, RC4R will pilot a mental health capacity building and resource connecting project in the Greater Toronto Area and British Columbia’s Lower Mainland. Facilitating knowledge exchange and mobilization by Francophone CSOs distributed across Canada to enhance their work with Francophone LGBTQ+ refugee newcomers, RC4R will seed a Francophone caucus with representatives from each region.