STORIES FROM THE FIELDYEAR RESULTS

Self–reliance and livelihoods
5,800 persons of concern benefitted in 5 countries in 2018

STORY OF ABDINASIR

IRAN
PAKISTAN

NEPAL© TalenPac/Charu Argarwa

STORY OF BHOMPA

INDIA© UNHCR/Nepal 2018

MALAYSIASTORY OF FARHAT

INDIA

IRAN

MALAYSIANEPALPAKISTAN

100%

1,106

2,265

90%

220

PoCs of refugees (41)participated in an
entrepreneur training
graduated and developed
business plans

100%

PoCs of refugees(120) who joined selfhelp groups feel more
confident/empoweredand increased savings
after three months ofjoining

11

Business groups of PoCs
organized in artisan work
(stitching, embroidery,crochet, jewelry making,up cycled products,conscious clothing andfood and catering)

In partnership with

PoCs benefitted fromUNIQLO’s support 240
men and 866 women inwhich 87% of them are
youth

571

Refugees received
the certificate of a skill
obtained through thetraining

90

PoCs became anentrepreneur/selfemployed, own businessor started home-based
after receiving training or
start-up support

110

PoCs obtained an
employment opportunity
with the skills equippedthrough the Employment
Generation in Workshops
project within 3 months
after the training

PoCs benefitted fromUNIQLO’s support 1613
men and 651 women

786

PoCs of 19 nationalities
were assisted with
opening a savings
account at bank75

Rohingya and Somali
refugees completed
vocational and technicaltraining

Of Bhutanese PoCs
enrolled in Vocational
Training & CTEVT Skill
Certification graduated100%

Of PoCs in urban areas
supported through a skill
training and businessstart-up support project
established theirbusinesses

88%

39

Youth aged 15-18 received
a 12 months YouthEnterprise TrainingOf the Bhutanese refugee
graduates of advanced
level training were able
to be self-employed in
the same occupation thatthey were trained in205

35

Vulnerable PoCs
especially women andyouths received life-skills
and vocational training

Urban refugees
were provided withentrepreneurship/business training andstart-up support.

70of PoCs graduated thelivelihoods training andare employed or selfemployed after 3 months

200© UNHCR/India 2018

STORY OF MARZIEH

PoC comprised 70%
youth, completed athree months training
in six different trades(computers, tailoring,driving, plumbing,electrician, mobile-repairskills)

53

Beneficiaries areequipped with productive
livelihood assets suchas sewing machines,
livestock and computer© UNHCR/Iran 2019STORY OF SAMAR

100%

Of beneficiaries areprovided with a 3-daysenterprise development
and basic financial literacy
training

Urban refugees were
provided with coachingguidance and technicalsupport.
The boundaries and names shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations.

© UNHCR/ Pakistan 2019

“I received encouragement and gained selfconfidence to start a business.”
Abdinasir is a 21-year-old refugee fromSomalia. He used to be unemployed andhad a monthly household income of 125USD.
Abdinasir participated in the Micro-Enterprise
Development (MED) programme organized byUNHCR, an entrepreneurship training whichteach participants how to start a business.
Through five months of training, he learnt aboutbusiness validation, planning, marketing andaccounting. He also received a 500USD grant
to start his tailoring business by purchasing

second hand sewing machines. In December
2018, he graduated from the training. Afterlearning how to sew, Abdinasir started a small
tailoring business, receiving orders of simple
clothing alterations from an existing tailoring
shop near his house. He now makes a profit of250USD a month and invested in purchasing
an advanced sewing machine so that he canwork on more challenging tailoring jobs. His
household income has now tripled to 375USDa month. He is making a consistent profit since
he started his own business and has moved hisbusiness to a bigger premise.

“My job has helped me to support my family
and enabled us to live in a dignified manner.”
19-year-old Bhompa was born in a Bhutanese
refugee family in a refugee camp in Nepal. Hegrew up with his family moving to different
huts and camps across the Jhapa and Morang
district. Now, he is married and live with his
beloved wife, grandparents and aunt.
He completed his primary education within a
refugee camp. However, he was not able tocontinue his study because of the financial
problems, as his family was fully dependent
on the assistance provided by agencies.

When these agencies reduced assistanceto Bhutanese refugees, his family faceddifficulties in fulfilling basic needs. Througha job placement programme implemented,
Bhompa is now being employed in a bicycle
assembling workshop in his neighborhood sinceJune 2018. Nowadays, he earns more than NPR
8,000 (80USD) per month as a salary. “Now withthe earning from my job, I am able to support
my family and meet household expenses”
says Bhompa. He further mentioned that aftergaining enough skill and savings, he would liketo establish his own bicycle repairing shop.

“ILHAM is not just a business. It is a medicineof my life.”
In 2014, Farhat fled from Afghanistan with
her three-year old son, after the death of her
husband. Like other refugees, Farhat faced
challenges such as to earn her family’s decent
livelihood and cope with the trauma of forced
migration. In September 2015, Farhat joined asingle mothers-led initiative of refugees andset up an afghan cuisine stall in an exhibition
in New Delhi. The huge positive feedback
from customers encouraged them to take thisinitiative forward. The women decided to nametheir business “ILHAM”, meaning ray of hopein Dari, and aimed for business development.
They cultivated new stall locations, conductedmarketing and approached potential customers
with the skill-sets, which they acquired from theUNHCR trainings. Now, ILHAM is a profit-making
catering business and registered with a foodlicense authority under the Indian Government
since 2018. They receive on-line orders fromgovernments, schools and individuals. This
allowed Farhat to pay educational and medical
fees for her family. The success of ILHAM did
not only bring Farhat to be self-reliant but toovercome the trauma and empower otherrefugee women and single-mothers.

“The training opened up a bright horizon
before me. Not only has my income been risingbut my dignity has also been elevated.”Marzieh (33) was born in Iran as a second
generation of refugees and belongs to a large
family with eight siblings. When her father
passed away in 2001, economic condition
became very difficult for Marzieh’s family, as
they had all been solely dependent on him.
Marzieh had no option but to act as to make aliving of her family. In 2018, she was accepted
to a clothing design course which aims in
empowering refugee women with a home-based enterprise approach. She advanced her
tailoring and designing skills, received advice on
business start-up and provided with equipment
to establish her own business, upon completionof the course. Not only was Marzieh able to starta tailoring business, but also began teaching
dress design to other refugee women. She is
now turning a profit and hopes for further profit
growth in the near future. Marzieh explains, “I
hope to be able to enter university and improve
my knowledge in the field of clothing design
and finally be able to train and empower otherrefugees as well.”“Tailoring training enabled me to become anentrepreneur inside my house.”
Samar (40) is an Afghan refugee and a motherof eight children aged 3 to 17 in Barakai refugee
camp in Pakistan. Her husband is a daily wage
earner and has no stable income to support hisfamily. In September 2018, Samar participatedin a skill development project that provides
advanced tailoring trainings and business startup assets. Samar always had a keen interest intailoring but could not pursue her interest as
she did not have confidence in herself. Aftercompleting the trainings, she started a tailoringbusiness at home with a provided sewing

machine. To find customers, Samar visitedneighbours and promoted her business byoffering products on discount rates. Eventually,
she received orders from local community
women and her relatives. Customers like her
work for the creative design, cost efficiency andhigh-quality stitching. Samar generates 60USD
per month and contribute to family’s livelihood.
Her children now have books, bags, uniform andhappily go to schools every day. “The training
gave me confidence in myself. I’m planning tostart a home-based female cloth shop alongwith sewing business in future.” says Samar.