Uganda currently hosts over 1.7 million refugees, making it one of the largest refugee-hosting countries in Africa (UNHCR estimates, 2024). A significant proportion of this population resides in settlements such as Nakivale Refugee Settlement in southwestern Uganda, which hosts approximately 170,000 refugees from multiple countries.
Across these settlements, livelihood programs are widely implemented by humanitarian and development actors to support economic empowerment. These interventions typically include vocational training, savings groups, small grants, and short-term income-generating activities.
However, through Uplift Her Hub’s engagement with over 20 young women and teenage mothers in Nakivale, we observe a persistent gap between participation in these programs and long-term economic independence.
This publication presents qualitative insights drawn from community dialogues, mentorship sessions, and livelihood group interactions conducted by Uplift Her Hub between 2024 and 2025.
Many livelihood interventions are designed as short project cycles, often ranging between 3 to 12 months. While initial inputs such as training or startup kits are provided, long-term follow-up support—such as market linkage, scaling opportunities, and sustained mentorship—is limited or absent.
Despite participation in multiple programs, many young women remain in informal and low-income activities. Based on our engagements, more than 70% of participants report not achieving stable monthly income after program completion, relying instead on inconsistent daily earnings or continued humanitarian support.
Teenage mothers face compounded vulnerabilities including:
These barriers significantly reduce their ability to benefit equally from livelihood initiatives.
Across engagements with over 20 participants, a consistent message emerged: while livelihood programs are appreciated, they often do not provide a clear pathway from training to sustainable economic participation.
Participants highlighted three major needs:
Uplift Her Hub has been piloting group-based livelihood models where young women are organized into peer groups to:
Early observations suggest that group-based approaches increase participation consistency and reduce dropout rates compared to individual-based interventions.
The findings highlight a structural gap between humanitarian livelihood programming and sustainable economic inclusion. While short-term interventions provide important initial support, they often fail to create pathways toward long-term financial independence.
Without systemic adjustments, many young women risk remaining in cycles of economic dependency despite repeated program participation.
Strengthening economic inclusion for displaced young women requires a shift from short-term livelihood assistance to long-term, system-oriented approaches that integrate market access, mentorship, and sustainable enterprise development.
Uplift Her Hub continues to explore community-led models that center the voices and experiences of young women, with the aim of contributing evidence-based insights to improve livelihood programming in refugee contexts.
