SIDA has expanded into a new area of work which has the aim of building global solidarity in Scotland and in its relationships with other communities around the world in a very practical, hands-on way. Commissioned by the Scottish Government, it is made up of two interconnected focus areas: Humanitarian Action and Global Citizenship .
Humanitarian Action
Building upon the massive and compassionate response of the Scottish public to the crises in Ukraine, we have been working on the development of a coordination mechanism for spontaneous responses by Scottish communities to overseas humanitarian crises. Since May 2022, we have been working with diaspora and other community-based response groups, as well as emergency aid organisations, statutory and regulatory bodies and others to begin the process of developing a mechanism that will provide communities across Scotland with the information, guidance and support they need to effectively help people in areas of the world impacted by crises, both now and in the future.
Global Citizenship
This work is focused on engaging the Scottish public on what it means to be a Global Citizen – as an individual, as a community and as a nation.
Through centring diaspora and ethnic minority voices, developing a wide-reaching public communications campaign and engaging meaningfully with public sector bodies on what Global Citizenship means for them, we aim to challenge and support the Scottish Government, the Scottish people and Scottish institutions to embrace their social responsibility to act for the benefit of all people, environments, and societies around the world, not just their own.
Key to this work will be the input of minority voices who are representative of Scotland’s global population and who have real insight into the realities of both international injustices and the solutions that Scotland can use to make things fairer, both at home and abroad. A steering group made up of these voices will bring a crucial and critical perspective to explorations of what Global Citizenship means in Scotland.
If you are part of a community or diaspora group and would be interested in getting involved in this work, or you just want to find out more, please email Hannah Clyne at hannah@intdevalliance.scot.