Livelihoods


UNHCR has entered into a partnership agreement with Hand In Hand Southern Africa (HIH) to implement the Livelihoods and Self Reliance Project for the Refugees in South Africa. The project is being implemented in Johannesburg and Pretoria from May 2017 to 31st December 2017. The Livelihood project will support refugees with Advocacy and lobbying, Self-employment support, Employment support including interventions to promote social cohesion in target communities. 
Eligibility

Any person interested in participating in the project must meet the following criteria:

    • Must have a valid Section 24 Refugee Permit and/or RSA ID issued by the Department of Home Affairs
    • Must be between 18 years and 45 years of ageMust be residing in Johannesburg or Pretoria for the duration of the project
    • Must not have been supported by UNHCR under the previous livelihoods projects
    • Must demonstrate commitment to fully participate in the project activities during the project implementation period
    • Persons with Asylum seeker permits or permanent residence permits do not qualify
    • For self-employment support, candidates must have been operating a business for a period of at least a year

Southern Tribes

HiH formed Southern Tribe Crafts in 2013, which is a network of HiH SA enterprises and groups of women who specialize in arts and crafts income generating activities. The aim of the network is to enhance the Arts and Crafts sector through facilitation of access to local, regional and international markets. HiH SA realizes that women are not only making good quality crafts for local markets, but can also attract foreign buyers in international markets as well.

Through funding received from donor partners we have been able to facilitate the development of arts and crafts enterprises in terms of business skills training and development of the businesses. Although craft production appears to be a significant source of income for women, the reality is, running a successful craft enterprise presents many challenges for women. Challenges such as access to markets, access to raw materials, saturated markets, low demand for craft products and competition; are some of the realities preventing most craft enterprises from thriving and hence vigorous initiatives are needed to enhance the industry to thrive.