The Government of Rwanda (GoR) and UNHCR Rwanda aim to ensure by 2030 that all refugees and neighbouring communities living in Rwanda can fulfil their productive potential as self-reliant members of the Rwandan society and contribute to the economic development of their host districts.
Background
As of 28th February 2022, Rwanda counted 127,269 refugees. Congolese made up 60.65% of the total refugee population in Rwanda, while Burundians were 39.09%. Urban refugees comprised 0.33% of the total refugee population; Children comprised 48% of the registered refugee population, while women and Children were 75%. The average family size was 3.7 individuals (Ministry in Charge of Emergency Management-MINEMA, 2022).
Refugees depend on humanitarian assistance. Reducing dependency on humanitarian aid and achieving graduation from poverty through socio-economic inclusion and the promotion of self-reliance is at the heart of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees-UNHCR’s mandate and the Government of Rwanda’s commitment (MINEMA, 2021).
The Government of Rwanda (GoR) and UNHCR Rwanda aim to ensure by 2030 that all refugees and neighbouring communities living in Rwanda can fulfil their productive potential as self-reliant members of the Rwandan society and contribute to the economic development of their host districts.
Within the background mentioned above, Rwanda Rural Rehabilitation Initiative (RWARRI), under partnership with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit- GIZ, implemented a project named Economic Inclusion of Refugees and Host Communities- ECOREF to equip the Technical and Vocational Education and Training Programme-TVET graduates with tool kits and provide equipment to existing enterprises to boost jobs creation, support refugees and host communities to graduate from poverty and ensure their self-reliance. The project targeted beneficiaries are TVET graduates who completed six months of TVET courses financed by GIZ and the existing enterprises that GIZ supported through different capacity buildings for TVET graduates, those who graduated in the year 2020, named TVET1, and TVET graduates for the year 2021, called TVET2.
