Refugees need business/entrepreneur skill for self substance

By Charles Katabalwa

19^th Oct 2023

The government has been challenged to provide business and entrepreneur skills to refugees before engaging them into small business to generate their own income.

Uganda has had 3-days engagement dubbed  “Inclusive private sector development in forced displacement contexts” organized by International Labor Organization (ILO) in collaboration with Ministry of Gender Labor and Social Development (MGLSD) at Speke Resort Munyonyo to see that implementing partner countries under the ILO PROSPECTS PROJECT get strategies on how to empower refugees engage in  small profitable work for self sustenance since donor money reduces every the other day.

At the closing ceremony the Small and Medium Enterprise Chief, John Kakungulu Walugembe, said that it’s good to empower refugees to engage in small business but they need to be educated about doing business in refugee’s camps.

Walugembe adds that they have received cases where on receiving the borrowed funds refugees ran out the camps and it becomes a challenge to trace them to refund the money for the other intended benefiatiress.

Meanwhile the Deputy Regional Director of ILO Coffi Agossou has thanked ILO and government of Uganda over organizing such an important conference to help in improving the welfare of refugees and in the country were over 1.5 million refugees reside and has vowed to support all initiatives aimed at improving the social and economic development of refugees.

END