Promote Economic Inclusion

The HIAS Foundation supports economic inclusion programs that ensure that refugees have economic opportunities to earn sustainable income and start their lives anew.

HIAS and UN Women collaborate on the Caminando project that promotes economic empowerment and women’s rights as an effective strategy to eliminate gender-based violence. April 2021. (HIAS Ecuador)

Overview

One of the most important opportunities for refugees is to build skills, earn a living, and invest in their communities. The HIAS Foundation supports HIAS’ economic inclusion programs, which ensure that refugees have safe economic opportunities to earn sustainable income and rebuild their lives. HIAS programs are market-oriented, protection-focused, and concentrate on economic empowerment of all refugees, including LGBTQ refugees, young women, and survivors of gender-based violence.

10,000

families enrolled globally in the Graduation Model Approach program in 2021

6,000+

have graduated from HIAS Entrepreneurship Schools since 2018

Countries

United States

Aruba

Chad

Colombia

Costa Rica

Ecuador

Guyana

Israel

Kenya

Panama

Peru

Venezuela

Strategies

The HIAS Foundation supports HIAS' programs to help refugees and their host communities build self-reliance, increase resilience, regain dignity, and provide opportunities for independent and meaningful futures. Access to sustainable livelihoods is an important tool for meeting refugees’ needs for protection, food security, housing, health, and other services.

HIAS' economic inclusion programs aim to:

Alleviate poverty through HIAS' Graduation Model Approach, which combines vocational and technical training, financial literacy, and coaching with cash assistance.
Support entrepreneurship by training refugees to start businesses in their host countries.
Facilitate wage employment for forcibly displaced people though building up skills and connecting them to employers.
Support financial inclusion by advocating with banks and micro-finance institutions, delivering financial literacy training, and bringing refugees closer to financial services.
Respond to emergencies with economic and financial interventions.

Impact Stories

VIDEO: We All Need Work That Sustains Us

HIAS’ economic inclusion programs ensure that refugees have safe economic opportunities to earn sustainable income and rebuild their lives in dignity. This short video highlights how HIAS helps refugees find jobs and become empowered.

A mural at HIAS Peru’s entrepreneurship school, which welcomes gender-based violence survivors and women living at a greater risk of violence to help them succeed economically and socially.
(HIAS Peru)

"Building Bonds of Friendship and Emotional Support”

Training women in entrepreneurship in a school-like setting allows them to develop business ideas and the means to avoid risks or leave violent spaces.