Refugee, host community youths turn to skills training to rebuild hope, secure their futures

Vulnerable refugee and host community youths in the region are gradually regaining hope and direction after enrolling in a skills-training programme organised by Palm Corps, one of the consortium partners implementing a four-year livelihood project funded by the Mastercard Foundation.

For many of these young people, most of whom have been grappling with the effects of displacement, unemployment, and limited opportunities, the training has become more than just a learning space.

It is a pathway to restoring dignity, confidence, and a belief in a better future.

Through practical courses such as tailoring, agribusiness, mobile phone repair, carpentry, and entrepreneurship, the programme equips trainees with hands-on abilities that can immediately translate into income-generating activities.

Participants say the initiative has given them skills they never imagined they could acquire, enabling them to support their families and contribute to the well-being of their communities.

In Mireye Refugee Settlement, young refugees facing hardship and limited opportunities are beginning to rebuild their lives through a skills training programme aimed at empowering vulnerable youth.

Among them is 22-year-old Nancy Anzoa, a refugee from Mireye Refugee Settlement, in Adjumani, who dropped out of school in Primary Six after losing her father during the conflict in South Sudan.

Now an orphan and one of five children raised by a single mother, Nancy says life has become increasingly difficult, leaving her with little hope for the future.

“I lost my father during the war, and when we came to Uganda in 2016, my mother could not afford school fees for all of us,” she explained. Before enrolling for training, Nancy helped her mother with small business activities to support her siblings.

“She has now taken up tailoring, a skill she believes will help her become self-reliant and support her family.

“I joined this programme because I want to help my mother and secure a better future,” she said.

Similarly, Eveline Movura, a 19-year-old mother of two, also dropped out in Primary Six due to a lack of school fees. She believes that acquiring practical skills is the best way to regain stability in her life. Eveline is currently training in the bakery, a trade she sees as both marketable and empowering.

“I thought joining this skills training would help me stand strong because I will have a skill that stays with me for life. That is why I chose the bakery, it is lucrative,” she said.

The project manager for Refugees and host community youth empowerment and transformation initiative, Palm Corps, funded by the Mastercard Foundation, emphasises that the goal goes beyond skilling; it is about empowering young people to become self-reliant, resilient, and innovative contributors in both the refugee settlements and surrounding host communities.

“It is uh a program um supported by the Mastercard Foundation supporting a consortium of nine partners, which is led by Muni University, it is a project of four years where its main goal is to build the socio-economic resiliency of young people between the age of 16 uh to 35 through three very important pathways,” he said

He added, the bigger picture from the Mastercard Foundation, under their chapter of the Young Africa Works, under this program, they are expecting overall from the nine consortium partners to empower 100,000 young people.

We target 70% refugees and then 30% host communities. We are expected to reach up to 60% of young women and then 40% young men, specifically Palmcorp as one of the consortium partners, we are expected to reach out to 8,300 young people in the districts of Adjuamani and then Obongi.

Apio Carolyn, one of the national assessors for hairdressing, advised the youths who are being assessed for their finals to continue to add more skills, as things are always changing.

“I want to advise the youths who are doing their assessment not to stop there, but think of advancing. If you advance, you will even reach and acquire a degree,” she advised.