IRC partners with the IKEA Foundation to build opportunities

Refugees and vulnerable groups in host communities, like those with disabilities or mothers who are the sole providers for their households, face high levels of unemployment and limited access to financing. Re:Build supports participants with programs designed to help them access public services and increase their economic independence.  

Re:Build provides business-skills training, apprenticeships and awards grants to entrepreneurs. Our program connects participants to job opportunities in sustainable industries and helps them access financial services like banking and micro-loans. We also work with city officials to verify refugees’ skills, since people who flee conflict often lack certificates.

By providing inclusive and sustainable opportunities to refugees and vulnerable members of their host communities, Re:Build promotes social cohesion, helps local businesses recruit skilled workers, and bolsters the local economy.

Patrick Sudi, a Congolese refugee, became a tailor in Kampala after receiving training from the Re:Build program.

Photo: Daniel Semogerere for the IRC

Re:Build has prioritized efforts to help vulnerable women become financially independent through training programs and opportunities to safely enter male-dominated industries in East Africa. 

For example, in Kampala, Re:Build has worked with local officials and business owners to help refugee women become mechanics, welders, carpenters and plumbers. 

Re:Build placed Tumusifo Mulemesha, a Congolese refugee, in a three-month apprenticeship in Kampala where she is training to become one of the city’s first female mechanics.

Photo: Daniel Semogerere for the IRC

Re:Build is committed to action as well as research. In collaboration with researchers from the Center for Global Development (CGD), Georgetown University, University of Rochester, Princeton University, the Economic Policy Research Center (EPRC) and other notable institutions worldwide, Re:Build embarked on two 18-month-long studies (Randomized Control Trials [RCTs]) involving approximately 4,000 Re:Build participants in July 2022.

These evaluations will help us understand how to best help urban refugees and their host communities build resilient small businesses. The studies will evaluate the effectiveness and impact of Re:Build services designed to support clients to start or grow their businesses. Additionally, the studies will assess the effectiveness of Re:Build strategies for improving social cohesion between urban refugees and members of their host communities.

Through Re:Build, Kenyan national, Joshua Wambua was placed in an internship at a supermarket in a Nairobi suburb. He is now a full-time employee and able to support himself.

Photo: Vincent Odero for the IRC

Re:Build is working to build and share evidence on innovative, sustainable livelihoods solutions so that they can be adopted to support refugees and host residents in other cities beyond East Africa. 

The program encourages leaders at the regional, national and global levels to adopt policies, like expanding refugee's access to financial services, work permits and driving permits, which improve the lives of refugees in urban settings. Re:Build also works with local businesses to support refugee livelihoods in their business plans.