SEVERAL IMMIGRANTS were among the award winners at the Social Entrepreneurs Ireland event in Dublin last Monday, where guest of honour was President Mary McAleese. Thirty-one social entrepreneurs from throughout the country received awards ranging from €80,000 to €6,000 to pursue work in a wide variety of social arenas.
Among the foreign-born winners was Juliet Amamure of The Diaspora Women’s Initiative (DWI), which aims to empower migrant women in Ireland to deal proactively with their experiences of HIV/Aids.
Migrant women living with the virus face a multitude of problems, including language difficulties, low incomes, isolation, lack of knowledge of services, as well as stigma and discrimination due to their health status.
Many come from war-torn countries such as Uganda, Congo, Ivory Coast, Somalia, Zimbabwe and Rwanda where women often became infected with HIV as a result of rape. Some come to Ireland through human trafficking for labour and sexual exploitation.
The DWI provides a unique range of services, targeted specifically at this relatively recent population facilitating their access to appropriate health and social services, and provides training in peer counselling and education.
Another migrant winner was Benedicta Attoh of the Women in Leadership Network, which aims to provide women with the supports and skills required to succeed and stay in the male dominated world of politics.
Attoh has personal experience of Irish politics as a candidate in the local elections of 2004 and 2009 (latterly as a Fine Gael candidate) and is working to develop a non-partisan political training resource that will be used for training, mentoring and supporting young women to take the leap into active citizenship, political participation and leadership.
Angeles Mbwoge and Jipe Kelly of the African Community Interaction Portal are originally from Cameroon and were recognised for their web portal which aims to provide opportunity for community interaction, knowledge sharing and support to members of the African community in Ireland.
Other awardees this year included John Lawlor, who set up The Bridge to College (B2C) to support young people, particularly those in under resourced communities to raise their educational horizons; Helene Hugel, who saw the need to support children who are hospitalised and established Helium, an arts and healthcare company; and in response to alarming rates of suicide and self harm among Travellers, Thomas McCann, a member of the Traveller community and a qualified psychotherapist, founded the Traveller Counselling Service.
Speaking at the awards, Sean Coughlan, chief executive of Social Entrepreneurs Ireland, called on the Government to consider innovation in relation to society as well as business.
“Over recent times innovation has emerged as a key driver of our growth and prosperity, with the Irish government believing it will be critical in helping Ireland develop as a smart economy,” he said. “Social Entrepreneurs Ireland believes that not only does Ireland need a smart economy, it needs a just society. And, like the Government, we agree innovation will play a key role in achieving this goal. However we believe it is essential that when looking at innovation we look at it not just in a commercial context but also in a broader societal context.”
He added: “It is not enough to create a Smart Economy, the government also needs to focus on establishing a responsible and fair society in order to protect the vulnerable.”
Social Entrepreneurs Ireland, established in 2004, is a privately funded not-for-profit organisation that believes that innovation and social change in Ireland will be driven by exceptional people with exceptional ideas. It has developed a support model that helps these social entrepreneurs grow their ideas from concept to reality.
For more information about Social Entrepreneurs Ireland, visit socialentrepreneurs.ie.
