On May 5th, the RefugeeLINK team met with the Chairman of all refugees in Uganda at the Congolese Community Centre in Makindye. He was not only supportive of our work but also helped bring together other refugee community chairpersons from Rwanda, Somalia, Burundi, and Sudan. Together, we discussed how to collaborate and strengthen community outreaches across nationalities.
In a generous gesture that will significantly accelerate our impact, the Chairman offered RefugeeLINK free use of the community centre space whenever needed. As a result, our Monday outreach will now be held there starting May 12th.
These outreach sessions will involve profiling refugee women-led businesses, opening bank accounts with Stanbic Bank, onboarding participants onto FlexiPay one-on-one wallets, and completing URA registrations. With participants expected from multiple nationalities, sufficient manpower is essential to ensure everything runs smoothly.
Looking ahead, RefugeeLINK remains hopeful of reaching around 250 people in the upcoming outreach. Digital trainings will also be introduced as part of our capacity-building efforts, starting as early as next week. This aligns directly with expectations from the ACCION pipeline.
Beyond Makindye, RefugeeLINK will also be hosting the Somali community soon. Further details, including the event date, will be communicated in due course.
Over the next two months, RefugeeLINK aims to reach and surpass 750 refugee women businesses across all nationalities. This is an ambitious goal, but with the partnerships being built and community leaders opening doors, it is absolutely achievable.
The outreach scheduled for Monday, May 12th will take place at the Congolese Refugee Community Centre in Makindye, located near Mery Petrol Station opposite Makindye Military Barracks. Activities will include refugee women business profiling, Stanbic Bank account opening, FlexiPay wallet onboarding, and URA registrations.
Collaboration is the only path to sustainable economic inclusion. RefugeeLINK is grateful to our volunteers, partners including ACCION and Stanbic Bank, and most of all, the refugee community leaders who are trusting us to walk this journey together.