Ensuring Early Childhood Development and Livelihoods for Families
“Vivian is a Young Facilitator through the organization Literacy and Adult Basic Education (LABE). Here, she leads young children in song and dance in her refugee community in Obongi, Uganda.”
Refugees
Vivian is a Young Facilitator through the organization Literacy and Adult Basic Education (LABE). Here, she leads young children in song and dance in her refugee community in Obongi, Uganda, which has one of the largest refugee populations in the world. Through LABE’s Young Facilitator program, Vivian teaches, leads and promotes healthy habits for children in the community who are too young to attend primary school.
Challenge and Context
More than 100 million people worldwide have been displaced from their homes. Over 30 million of them are refugees, forced to flee their countries because of violence or persecution. Displaced people are often unable to return to their homes, and are faced with inadequate support and uncertain futures.
COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted refugees and the communities that host them; these populations face lost livelihoods and education, food insecurity, spiraling poverty, social unrest, and increasingly restrictive policies negatively impacting mobility and access to services and market.
Although the circumstances that lead to displacement are often traumatic and tragic, refugees themselves have tremendous resilience and perseverance. They contribute economically and socially to the communities where they are hosted. They have hope for the future and strive to rebuild their lives.
What We Do: Invest in Early Childhood Development and Livelihoods for Families
In recognition of this unprecedented global challenge, our Refugees initiative aims to partner with and improve the lives and livelihoods of refugee children and families, as well as the communities hosting them.
Our strategy seeks to:
- Invest in partners with a “two-generation” approach focusing on integrated early childhood development and livelihood programs for refugee, migrant and host community families
- Establish strong relationships with stakeholders in each geography, including governments, municipalities and local organizations, and investing in refugee-led organizations
- Analyze and contribute to the global research and evidence base to drive innovative, sustainable and locally-led solutions
- Refine our advocacy strategy and learning agenda and build advocacy partnerships at local, regional and global levels
The Impact of the Work:
Through our investments in evidence-based programming, research, evaluation, advocacy and locally led responses, we will advance refugee inclusion and integration, and ensure that children receive care that enables their healthy development and that parents and caregivers have sustainable economic opportunities that foster self-sufficiency.
The Refugees initiative supports partners in Colombia, Ecuador, Ethiopia, and Uganda.
We will continue to support disaster prevention and response in the U.S. and around the world. Learn more about this work here.