ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - More than 2,000 returnees across the Kurdistan Region and Iraq have received business support services to rebuild their lives through a Rwanga Foundation's three-year initiative, which concluded in Erbil on Monday, to help returnees establish long-term economic stability.
The Rwanga Foundation, in coordination with the Joint Crisis Coordination Center (JCC), held a closing ceremony concluding its three-year initiative, “Empowering Sustainable Livelihoods - enriching the reintegration of returnees for long-term prosperity in Iraq 2023-2026" project which has benefited 2,171 people across seven governorates.
Spanning 36 months from August 1, 2023, to July 31, 2026, the program offered career-building and professional development support services “to enable a conducive environment for Iraqi returnees, facilitating their sustainable and long-term reintegration into their home communities” .
The project comes as increasing numbers of Iraqis and Kurds face challenges related to employment and reintegration after repatriating from abroad.
After twenty years abroad, Sarwar Ahmad, 45, has returned to his home city of Ranya, north of Sulaimani, after moving to Finland in 2015.
Ahmad, who was one of the first beneficiaries of the program, told Rudaw's Vazhin Murad that the initiative has turned “our despair into hope, moving us from darkness into light,” expressing deep gratitude for Rwanga’s support for helping him start a new life with his son.
Ahmed also encouraged other Kurdish migrants in Europe to consider returning home.
"I call upon those currently in Europe: never lose hope about returning to your homeland of Kurdistan. Do not think there are no jobs or support. Come back; the Rwanga Foundation is here," he said.
According to Hassan Shekh Aladin, executive director of the Rwanga Foundation, the program guided repatriates through four stages.
"In the first phase, they were taught business planning through training. In the second phase, their skills were identified; in the third phase, their work and ideas were put into practice; and in the final phase, financial support was provided to help them establish their own businesses."
Another beneficiary, Hazha Azad, said the support enabled her to expand her business after returning from abroad.
"I contacted the Rwanga Foundation after I returned, and they provided great support that helped me grow my work," she said.
Empowering Sustainable Livelihoods: Enhancing the Reintegration of Returnees for Long-Term Prosperity in Iraq 2023-2026 is a collaborative initiative funded by the Department of Migration, Stabilization and Fragility at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark and implemented by Rwanga Foundation for Development.
