Name: See IFC Africa’s activity on LinkedIn
Uploaded: 2024-12-02T13:07:13.677Z
Duration: 2 min 16 s
Channel: IFC Africa

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Mary Porter Peschka

Regional Director - Eastern Africa at IFC - International Finance Corporation - World Bank Group

Addressing the complex and multifaceted challenges refugees and host communities face requires creative and comprehensive solutions—and strong partnerships. Last week, IFC and UNHCR hosted a workshop in Nairobi bringing together our teams from across Eastern Africa to explore areas where we can expand our shared work to foster long-term economic resilience. Thank you to my co-hosts Mamadou Dian Balde, Chansa kapaya and Jumoke Jagun-Dokunmu. Over the last few years, IFC - International Finance Corporation and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, have established a strong collaborative relationship in Eastern Africa, and I am keen to evolve and further strengthen this partnership. By combining the strengths of humanitarian organizations with private-sector solutions, our partnership can create opportunities for refugees and their host communities. In Kenya, for example, IFC and UNHCR have been working together in the Kakuma Refugee Hosting Area through the KKCF - Kakuma Kalobeyei Challenge Fund (KKCF), IFC’s first refugee and host community focused program in sub-Saharan Africa. The program is also supported by the Turkana County Government. Through the program, 126 businesses have been supported, over 1,200 jobs created, and more than 200,000 people gained access to essential services like electricity and healthcare. During our meeting last week, I had a great chat with Mamadou on the sidelines about why this partnership is so important. Tune in ⬇️ IFC UNHCR Joint Initiative

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Transcript

The partnership between IFC and UNHCR is important because the issue of refugees is so significant around the world and right here in Africa. These are complex, multifaceted issues that require creative and comprehensive solutions that I would argue no single agency could bring to bear on its own. So IFC and you and HCR have come together, each leveraging our respective strengths in the case of UN HCR. Its humanitarian experience. In the case of IFC, it's our expertise and engaging the private sector. Together, we're producing sustainable solutions for refugees and host communities. We have over 5.5 million refugees hosted in this region along with their host communities to help them live more dignified lives. To help them find solutions, we need to disclose partnership with. IFC you bring in expertise that no other entity has, that expertise on how to deal with the private sector, that expertise to help businesses grow. These are so important to help refugees live in dignified lives until such a time that they prepare for solutions. So for us, this partnership is vital. It is critical for protection and for solutions. We need a diverse skill set. To bring to bear to support these communities. And it's not impossible. In fact, you and HCR and IFC has proven it right here in Kenya around the Kakuma refugee camp. We're back in 2019, we embarked on a journey together with the Turkana County government to support small businesses, to create 1200 jobs to facilitate more than 200,000 people's access to essential services. Like healthcare and electricity, that's way beyond the ability and the purview of any single institution. So I think it's been a true testimony. We want to be and continue to be on that journey with you.

John Rokorio

Engineering &Information Technology

23h

Congratulations Mary Porter Peschka on accomplishing such a monumental milestones by formulation of partnerships with the UNHCR

Esperance UWIMANA

Market Based livelihood Interventions for refugees and IDPs, Certified Value Chain Analyst , Humanitarian.

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