Nearly 80 million people are displaced worldwide, the majority of whom are making their ways to cities. Cities are beacons of economic opportunity. However, opportunities are frequently out of reach for refugees, and other vulnerable residents in these cities. As a result, urban refugees struggle to find sustainable livelihood and achieve long-term self-reliance. At the same time, programmes to support them lack investment and evidence to show what works.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the IKEA Foundation have partnered to find a solution to this challenge, with ultimate goal of changing policies, practices, and investments to better support urban refugee livelihoods.

Initially focusing on Kampala and Nairobi, Re:Build is working to build and share the evidence base for innovative, sustainable livelihoods solutions that can be adopted to support refugees and host residents in other cities in East Africa and beyond. This is being achieved through a project entitled: Refugees in East Africa: Boosting Urban Innovations for Livelihoods Development (Re:Build)