Helping Refugee Families Build New Lives Around the World

The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation runs a program to help refugee families in four countries: Colombia, Ecuador, Ethiopia, and Uganda. More than 117 million people worldwide have been forced to leave their homes due to war, violence, or persecution. Over 43 million of these are refugees. The Foundation uses a 'two-generation approach' - helping both refugee children and their parents at the same time. They provide early childhood education and development programs for kids while helping parents find jobs and start businesses. The goal is to help 500,000 children reach important development milestones and get 25,000 parents employed by 2026. The Foundation believes refugees have great strength and can contribute to their new communities. They focus on funding refugee-led organizations and making sure refugees have a voice in decisions that affect their lives. In 2022, they provided 46% of all trackable funding that went to refugee-led organizations worldwide. The program also works to remove legal barriers that prevent refugees from accessing services and employment. By helping both generations together, they create stronger families and communities.

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