These funds will impact Refugee-led Organizations (RLOs) benefiting from UR incubation programs – meant to provide them with training on their key organizational issue and temporary funding – so they can, in this particular case, provide a solid response to COVID-19 for the benefit of refugee communities.
Thousands of refugees and displaced persons from Somalia, South-Sudan, Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Eritrea, DRC – including 9500 women and 1100 members of the host community – will benefit from URs emergency support program meant to facilitate life-saving information to vulnerable urban refugees in Uganda, through organizations such as the Refugee-Led Organizations Network (RELON) a network of 15 RLOs, or the women-led organizations Refugee Entrepreneurship Association Limited (REAL) and Sudanese for Peace and Development Association (SWPDA), the latter addressing issues of gender-based violence and striving to empower refugee women.
“Refugee-Led Organizations (RLOs) are in the best position to voice and meet the needs of their community yet are rarely recognized as credible actors. RLOs have unparalleled access to their community members” explains Jessica Sallard, Head of mission, Kampala, “the training provided under UR’s incubation program will include topics such as rapid community needs assessments, creating emergency referral pathways, and information sharing with humanitarian stakeholders in to strengthen an appropriate response to COVID-19 related challenges.”
