Serisha is a former Public Justice Intern at CPJ. Currently, she serves as the Executive Director of Leading in Colour, an organization dedicated to peer-to-peer knowledge sharing amongst racialized youth. Serisha also sits on the Board of The Solidarity Library. She is a graduate of McGill University, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a minor in World Religions. As the child of refugees, Serisha has been a lifelong activist. She has been actively involved in refugee rights advocacy since her selection as a 2017-18 UofMosaic Fellow with The Mosaic Institute and furthered this interest while serving as an executive on several student-led advocacy groups.
On Dec. 10 and 11, Marrakech, Morocco was host to the Intergovernmental Conference on the Global Compact for Migration, where the majority of United Nations Member States adopted the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. The Compact outlines a set of 23 objectives to promote international cooperation on global migration.
The ‘immigrant story’ has long been the basis on which Canadians unite to embrace multiculturalism. This narrative presents the idea that families from across the world seek out the True North with hopes of a better future for themselves and their children, a future that is contingent on reaching safety. Yet, the means through which this story of migration becomes fulfilled is often forgotten.
In order to showcase the true value of GBA+ it must be applied throughout the policy development cycle, not as a post-analysis of what could have been done better.
It is imperative that the government look ahead and take direct action to assist populations in regions where refugees are fleeing for their lives. By increasing fair trade and directing aid to these countries, perhaps we can limit the need for refugees to leave their countries due to extenuating circumstances.
