UNHCR, ILO partner to facilitate integration of Malian refugees in Mauritania
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) have joined efforts to improve the living conditions of refugees and host communities through an ambitious project aiming at promoting decent employment and refugee integration in Mauritania.
The partnership tagged, “Strengthening the empowerment of refugees and host populations through improved employability of young people in the construction sector”, started in December, 2018.
This project is an operationalization of the memorandum of understanding and the Joint Action Plan between the two organizations.
The partnership highlights the importance of the right to work for displaced population in the world, through concrete actions on the field in order to improve the living conditions of refugees and local communities.
UNHCR and ILO say in a statement that, “The partnership constitutes a major realization that facilitated socio economic integration through the strengthening of the entrepreneurial tissue, the development of new skills demanded by the labour market and the empowerment of the youth in Sahel.”
Nothing less than 55,000 Malian refugees fled the war in their country and are living in the Mbera camp in eastern Mauritania, with little or no opportunity for socio economic integration into the local labour market.
The project specifically aims at providing young refugees in the Mbera camp and the host community youth with the opportunity to have access to certified quality training in several trades of the building and public works sector and in sectors that boost local economic development.
