Send money directly to families fleeing conflict and insecurity.

There are few options for refugees hoping to restart their lives.

• Today, 33M people live as refugees, having fled their home countries to escape war, violence, conflict, or persecution. Three quarters have fled prolonged, multi-year crises and fewer than 2% of them will return home this year. 
• This means nearly all refugees will remain in whichever low- and middle-income host countries they fled to, where they’ve seen their food rations cut in half by relief organizations due to budget constraints.  

With your donation, refugees can build independence.

• Two years after refugee families received one-time $1,000 GiveDirectly transfers, they owned more assets, opened new businesses, and earned more, a study found. Our recent pilots for refugees in urban settings had a similar impact. 

As Innocent Tshilombo, a writer and refugee, put it, “If you’ve never been on the receiving end of aid, you are lucky.  But, if one day, you are in that position – ask yourself – do you want other people making choices about what you eat and how you spend your money?”

Your funds have reached over 21K refugees to date.

• Long-term refugees in settlements – Many refugees live in settlements or camps, surviving on relief rations but lacking the resources to jumpstart their new lives. We’ve given over 12K families $700-1,000 each in settlements in Uganda and Rwanda.
• Urban refugees in Kampala and Nairobi – The majority of refugees choose to live in cities because of the independence and economic opportunities it provides. However, the informal setting means they struggle to receive formal support. We’ve delivered ~$1,000 to over 2K refugees in Kampala and Nairobi.
• Refugees recovering from shocks – During COVID-19 lockdowns, many refugees lost their livelihoods as many work in informal industries. GiveDirectly delivered $150 in cash relief to ~7K refugees in Rwanda– including Aline, went on to work as a GiveDirectly Field Officer.