Our Insights: NRC’s Global Education Summit in Nairobi

On the 3rd of October, we were among the few Refugee Led Organizations (RLOs) that had the privilege of attending and participating in the Global Education Summit hosted by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). This summit brought together NRC’s global team of educational specialists and youths from refugee-led, youth-led initiatives that once received support from the Global Refugee Youth Network (GRYN) (GRYN). Through a series of sessions, the team sought to explore the educational and livelihood sectors more deeply. The goal was to engage participants in a meaningful way, enhancing their understanding of current approaches by NRC and its partners to involve displaced youth and integrating their involvement throughout NRC's project lifecycle, particularly the pathways for youth livelihoods. It also took a moment to go through a few responses on the integrated response for youth livelihoods and the evidence-based response. These responses were critical, as they provided a framework for understanding the impact and what could be improved.

TEDI Africa had a notable intervention at the summit. Represented by Mamuch Bey, the team lead from Kakuma, we took part in a meaningful panel discussion. Bey, as a panelist, addressed key questions about our scope of work at TEDI Africa. He recounted the Women's Economic Empowerment Plan that NRC supported through GRYN. He explained how this project was impactful as it aimed to improve the livelihoods of refugee women through vocational training, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship programs. How it successfully brought in 30 refugee women with small-medium enterprises (SMEs) and trained them to run effective businesses.

In his keynote on the linkage between education and livelihoods and what worked best to support young refugees' transition between education and livelihood opportunities, Bey pointed out critical issues faced by the refugees that, in turn, spurred unemployment rates, with many refugees relying on informal economies. He also spoke about the Link Paradox: the tension between education and livelihood, where the very connection (or bridge) meant to unite the two is also the source of a disconnection or gap. How education is often disconnected from market needs, leaving refugees with either insufficient skills for the job market or sufficient skills with no market. He ultimately pointed out the need to shift more focus toward skills-development programs that align closely with market demands in areas such as digital skills and entrepreneurship to ensure a seamless transition, with relevant examples from the Women Economic Empowerment Plan and Young Mother’s Mentorship Program in Kakuma and coupled with our refugee youth engagement there evidenced through initiative like the Kakuma Daily, a refugee-run and refugee-managed citizen journalism that spurs the critical value of story-telling as a tool for effective communication among the refugees.

In his final account, Bey emphasized the support INGOs could provide refugee entrepreneurs. Financial support, policy advocacy, mentorship, and market access opportunities were just a few of the crucial factors that could drive effective change in the journeys of young refugee entrepreneurs. More critically, he also shared the need for active involvement of the RLOs and refugees so that they are able to engage more actively and lead in this space as opposed to being deployed tokenistically (?).

The NRC Global Education Summit was a valuable experience, and we were honoured to participate in its deliberations. Meaningful discussions and new connections have set a promising path for our initiative. At TEDI Africa, we continue to be dedicated to inspire and empower refugee and marginalized communities. Through our TEE framework—Technology, Education, and Entrepreneurship—we envision a future where refugee youth and women have sustainable and replicable systems to ensure their socioeconomic and financial stability, enabling them to thrive above the average livelihood programs.