JCWI ended the year with their Annual General Meeting (AGM), JCWI’s Executive Director Yasmin Halima and Chair of JCWI’s board Louisa Baxter held the meeting, with special guest Shabna Begum, CEO of Runnymede Trust.
The meeting looked back at the contributions of JCWI’s Advocacy, Communications and Legal teams in furthering our mission of justice for people who choose to make the UK their home.
Highlights included a run down of key moments during the year, including successfully challenging the Rwanda Act, the launch of our Manifesto and Access to Justice toolkit, and JCWI’s response to the racist riots in August. We ended with congratulating our Legal team on their recent success in bringing clients who had been trapped on the Chagos Islands for nearly three years to the UK.
Shabna Begum of the Runnymede Trust also noted the importance of alliances across the charity sector to challenge the historic and ongoing hostile environment towards people who move and communities of colour. In a fascinating Q&A which rounded off the event, members discussed the origins of August’s riots and how we can work together to challenge the narratives of which they were the culmination.
Shabna talked about further potential collaboration with JCWI in the upcoming year. In particular, challenging the government’s focus on community cohesion to fight the far-right rather than addressing systemic inequalities and racist narratives among mainstream politicians and media.
Yasmin Halima, Executive Director of JCWI, rounded off proceedings by saying, “These alliances are the very definition of a Movement. It’s about understanding systemic inequalities, not just through reading about them, but witnessing the impact on our families and the communities we work with. It’s more than professional expertise, we, our clients and our communities—we live the reality of these injustices.”
