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The Estonian Refugee Council is launching a new Women's Livelihoods Programme, aimed at providing sustainable livelihood opportunities for forcibly displaced women from Nagorno-Karabakh residing in the Lori region of Armenia. The project seeks to address the social and economic challenges these women face by supporting their income-generating ideas through entrepreneurial activities. The programme is designed to educate 30 women on the fundamentals of entrepreneurship, helping them develop a strong understanding of how to successfully run small entrepreneurial activities. 15 most viable entrepreneurship ideas will receive sub-awards of $1,500 each to kick-start their entrepreneurial ventures.

Estonian Refugee Council, Garage48 and Swedbank, in partnership with the Estonian Association of Entrepreneurial Women and OBJEKT, will launch the third season of the Empowering Women entrepreneurship programme this autumn. Estonian Refugee Council and Garage48 have been working together since 2019, to empower more than 100 internally displaced women inside Ukraine and Ukraine refugees in Estonia in launching their microbusinesses. With the knowledge gained throughout the five years, we are taking the Empowering Women programme further, to empower more entrepreneurial people.

The employability programme welcomes people with a refugee background, who want to enter the labor market in Estonia or change their jobs. This program is suitable for everyone, regardless of their work experience or current employment status in Estonia. A total of 144 people can participate in the 5-day employability programme during a two-week period. The program lasts for 12 months. Upon program completion, participants gain the chance to engage in work practice or job shadowing across various organizations. A total of 12 groups are formed with an average of 12 people. The groups are held in Russian and English.

Estonian Refugee Council is launching a new Emergency Livelihoods Programme, aimed at providing access to sustainable livelihoods for Ukrainian refugees in Georgia. This initiative is designed to support the most vulnerable households by helping them generate new sources of income and achieve the subsistence minimum. 80 Ukrainian refugee households will each receive a grant of 1,000 Euros. The grants can be used to set up new business or to purchase essential equipment for already existing businesses in order to enhance their livelihoods.

Estonian Refugee Council in collaboration with Garage48 invites women in Cherkasy, Kirovohrad and Poltava oblasts to build their future and realise their dreams of becoming entrepreneurs. 80 individuals with new business ideas and 60 already existing business founders will be selected for the programme to get support on getting started and developing a sustainable and crisis-resilient micro company. At least 60 individuals or business teams selected by the jury will benefit 39,000 – 195,000 UAH in the form of asset-based grants together with mentoring for six months.