Next Steps, Catalyst’s Definition Programme

As we draw to a close as participants on Catalyst’s National Lottery Community Fund-funded Definition programme, rather than reflect on what we’ve done — which is accessible on our Notion page — we thought it might be helpful to assess what we can do next.

Briefly, we set out to accomplish one thing in the Definition programme: to enable users to access local services for help and support. This was done in mind with our organisational shift towards individual support and empowerment. We designed and develop a prototype for a referral system to enable clients to access services mainly for advice and information.

While this new process will undoubtedly close the gap in service provision for North Korean refugees, we need to do more! So, what next?

First of all, while we’ve enabled North Koreans to access local services, that does not address the local services finding it difficult to access the North Korean community. We’re going to develop a new online platform which will enable North Koreans to access services through the referral system and develop a way for local services to inform our clients about support in the local area.

Second, we’re going to increase our outreach to the community. The referral system we have developed will sit idle unless we tell people about it. As COVID restrictions ease, outreach will be made easier for a community that lives within a couple of miles of our office, but in the meantime, we’ll be promoting the system through Kakao talk and in our phone outreach services.

Finally, this is the start of the process of supporting North Koreans on an individual level. We are planning on developing a much more comprehensive digital client information system, which will be the portal for accessing support from our group. It will track everything from applications to progress on programmes and to Monitoring and Evaluation and financial planning and tracking.

We greatly appreciate the National Lottery Community Fund and Catalyst’s support in the first stages of our new programming.