- +256 (0) 764-201-899
- P.O Box 16772, Kampala-Uganda Plot 1496, Block 15, Zzembe Road, Nsambya
- Gudele One, Block 8, Near Zain Office, Juba, South Sudan
LIVELIHOODS
Problem
According to UNHCR and the Government of Uganda, as of September 2024, Uganda hosts over 1.74m refugees. Of these refugees, over 51%
are women and girls, and children making up to 57% and 40% of which are below the age of 12 (RIMS, 2024). It is reported that over 100,000
displaced individuals arrive in Uganda daily putting pressure on the already meager resources and stretched services within the refugee hosting
districts. With reducing funding challenges, it becomes a challenge to promote self-reliance among refugees and host communities in the refugee
hosting districts.
The youth especially the women, girls and persons with disabilities tend to face disproportionate access to resources for production, inadequate
access to skills, credit and capital which are key drivers of livelihoods and work opportunities. They are also faced with challenges such as
unemployment, skills mismatches and inadequate access to training as an enabler for making entry into new opportunity areas. Without
immediate support and interventions, refugees are vulnerable to exploitation, food insecurity, face health risks, falling into debt and may be forced
into desperate situations to survive, such as transactional sex or child labour, criminality, mental illness and death from hunger and malnutrition.
Our Intervention
To promote self-reliance among refugees and host communities, AYAN recognizes the need for increased economic opportunities and livelihood support. In response, AYAN is supporting Enterprise development, skills development and linkages to markets for refugee farmers to enhance livelihood opportunities for
refugees in Kampala, Kiryandongo, Kyaka II and Rhino camp Refugee settlement. AYAN currently runs the following projects in Uganda.
1. Refugee Pathpreneur Project
The refugee path-preneur project is market-led intervention responding to the rapid influx of a refugee children and youth demographic with disruptive pathways to dignifying work and sustainable livelihoods. Funded by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, the project is implemented in Kiryandongo, Kyaka II and Rhino Camp Refugee Settlements. The project is aimed
at;
A) Supporting the development of 900 children in Kiryandongo, Kyaka II, and Rhino Camp refugee settlement.
B) Support the training for 450 refugee led businesses and provide seed capital to refugee entrepreneurs/businesses.
C) Support 900 refugee farmers with training on value addition, agricultural extension services, and linkages to markets.
D) Awareness on mental health to 900 refugees
AYAN has so far constructed 3 Innovation Centers in Kyaka II, Kiryandongo and Rhino Camp refugee settlements. These centers are equipped with childcare corners, internet, coworking spaces and energy corners. These centers are for entrepreneurial ecosystem building among refugees and host communities in the three refugee hosting districts.
In Kyaka II and Kiryandongo, AYAN has set up hydroponic systems and a solar dryer that is used to produce vegetables for nutrition and support in the training of refugee farmers on climate smart agricultural activities in the center. The centers are used by both the hosts and refugees to conduct training on value addition, marketing and post-harvest handling of their products.
The childcare corners are for supporting the development of children from refugee families. The trained child protection officers are at these centers to offer trauma informed care to
these children while their parents engage in productive activities in the settlement. Currently the centers receive between 20 and 30 children per day during weekdays from 5pm to 6pm and 60 children on weekends at the children’s play areas.
Computer training rooms at the center and Internet access supports youth that would like to learn a skill online, conduct research and connect with their families in any part of the
world. Currently, the centers receive on average 50 refugee youth per day.
2. Kampala skills hub
Funded by the Global Whole Being Fund, the Kampala skill hub project targets urban refugee youth with hands on and advocacy skills to support
and boost their livelihood opportunities. The Project aims at supporting those in the art and creative spaces like music, poetry and drama groups.
In 2024, AYAN hosted the Refugee Youth Summit in Nairobi for refugee youth in the art and creative spaces.
Currently AYAN is running a 6-month training program for 18 refugee youth on advanced digital programmes and skills to enhance their
employability in the labor space in Uganda and around the world.
AYAN also runs a revolving fund program where refugee businesses in Kampala apply for an interest free loan to boost their businesses and
scale.
Lastly, AYAN is at the final stages of setting up a refugee storytelling podcast for refugee youth, women and children to share their stories, connect with others and be able to learn basic podcasting skills.
3. Jobtech for Refugees
The Jobtech Alliance is an ecosystem-building initiative around inclusive Jobtech in Africa launched in late 2021 and implemented by Mercy Corps and BFA Global. The Jobtech alliance is interested in digital platforms which connect people to work opportunities that build livelihoods – this includes gig matching platforms, job matching, e-commerce marketplaces, and more. The Jobtech Alliance helps Jobtech platforms to grow and create more jobs.
Jobtech for Refugees is a program implemented by the Jobtech Alliance which aims at connecting refugees to work opportunities. Under Jobtech for Refugees, the Jobtech Alliance works with demand-side partners (Jobtech platforms) and supply-side partners (RLOs) to map out work opportunities for refugees, the
potential barriers to access, and collaboratively design a sprint (engagement) to overcome these barriers.
AYAN partnered with Mercy Corps Uganda to implement parts of the Jobtech for refugees in Kampala. AYAN as a RLO partner in the implementation of the
Jobtech for refugees in Uganda is responsible for:
1. Contributing insights from working with refugees to identify the suitability of opportunities for the refugee population and co-develop ‘sprints’ for
intervention.
2. Identifying, vetting, screening, capacitating, and mentoring refugees to enable them to access the specific opportunities identified in the project.
The project is entirely demand-driven. AYAN under this project don’t do any activities with refugees that are not directly related to them accessing services that
AYAN and partners are working to make available with Jobtech platforms and edtech platforms.
Currently AYAN conducts engagements with community leaders, onboard and train refugee youth and supports them on the different Jobtech platforms.
4. SOLCO Partnership
The SOLCO partnership is part of the Humanitarian Climate Action Partnership Programme which comprises of the following three Humanitarian CAPs:
1. CAP 1: SOLCO – the Solar Electric Cooking Partnership: aiming to enable 250.000 households to transition to solar-powered electric cooking
technologies
2. CAP 2: SWEEP – the Sustainable Waste Employment and Environmental Progress Partnership: aiming to scale up sustainable waste management in
ways that create decent jobs in the waste value chain
3. CAP 3: EcoAdapt – the Nature-Based Solutions Partnership: aiming to identify nature-based solutions that can drive forward large-scale climate
adaptation efforts
The goal of the Humanitarian CAPs programme is to change the humanitarian aid system through localized public-private partnerships.
The CAPs programme is supported by Last Mile Climate with funding from IKEA Foundation and Robert Bosch Foundation.
AYAN with support Last Mile Climate and other SOLCO partners, the local government in the two districts aims to increase awareness and encourage 24,000
refugee and host community households in Kyaka II and Kiryandongo Refugee settlements to adopt clean alternative and e-cooking technologies.
This initiative will reduce health risks associated with inhaling toxic fumes and smoke that resulted in 45% of pneumonia death in Sub-Saharan Africa killing more
children under 5 years than malaria, improve livelihoods as women and girls will not spend a lot of time collecting firewood but instead have extra time to dedicate
to other economic activities, conserve the environment, and contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
