The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has awarded cash grants to 16 small business ventures in Ecuador under an initiative aimed at nurturing the entrepreneurial talents of Colombian refugees and helping them become self-sufficient.
Prizes were handed out after presentations in the capital, Quito, on January 10 and in Santo Domingo de Los Colorados the next day by a total of 40 groups of entrepreneurs, each gathering up to three people and most of them including Colombian refugees and Ecuadoreans.
MANGE GODE IDEER
Business ideas showcased included garment making; goods made from recycled material; a variety of restaurants; furniture construction; a small-scale chicken farm; a plumbing agency; handicrafts manufacture; and the fabrication of cleaning goods.
In Quito, Jorge R* won the first prize of US$1,300 (CA. 6600 d. kr.) after six judges examined his presentation on a proposed rubber recycling plant.
The top honours in Santo Domingo went to a trio of Colombian female refugees for their plan to make lamps and other objects out of bamboo and iron.
GOD PR-CHANCE
– This was an ideal opportunity for refugees to show the representatives of financing institutions, micro-credit supporting agencies and other important actors in the financial market, that refugees are prepared and that they can be beneficiaries of their services, said Jorge Caiza from Fundación Ambiente y Sociedad, a partner agency of UNHCR and co-organizer of the project.
He said that most banks and financial institutions in Ecuador currently do not include refugees as beneficiaries,
– But we hope that initiatives like these will help to break the myths and prejudices against them, he said.
MANGLENDE ARBEJDE HINDRER INTEGRATION
There are some 45,000 registered Colombian refugees living in Ecuador, and tens of thousands more who never contact UNHCR or the authorities to seek asylum.
Finding a job or starting a business are among the main obstacles they face in their quest to integrate.
Even though it is legal to hire refugees, many employers still hesitate to take them on.
UNHCR, with FAS and the Fundación Esquel Ecuador, decided to try and help by launching its entrepreneur project in Quito and Santo Domingo last November.
The 40 groups accepted for the project were invited to take part in a five-day training course.
Kilde: www.unhcr.org
