Organizational competencies and cross cultural issues: assessing community competencies to adapt to the arrival refugee diaspora

Abstract

In January 2002, there were 19,783,000 refugee and asylum seekers worldwide feeling from 53 different countries (World Refugee Survey 2002). During the past 2 years, Barron, Wisconsin has visibly changed due to the unanticipated arrival of refugees from Somalia. The town of 3,000 is now over 13 percent Somali. The Somalis and the community of Barron, Wisconsin are only representative of refugees resettling in countries of asylum, and the communities where they choose to live. The problems, challenges, and misunderstandings that face the new residents of Barron are similar to those experienced around the world as refugees seek safety and new lives in their adopted countries. The purpose of this study is to increase the understanding of issues concerning refugees and how those issues impact communities; and to design an instrument that can be used to assess community competencies to adapt to an increasingly diverse environment. This assessment will help to identify training needs to increase the capacity of the new community. The review of literature presents information concerning the international and national status of immigrants and refugees; gathered from news sources, governmental publications, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and from individuals living in communities recently changed through the secondary migration of refugee Diaspora. Theories concerning diversity will be examined briefly.