KIGALI, Rwanda

The European Union, United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and World Food Program (WFP) have signed an agreement to cooperate in the implementation of a project aimed at helping refugees in Rwanda and host communities achieve self-reliance in meeting their basic needs, the organizations said Thursday.

The three-year project to support 3,200 refugee families and 800 host community families will be financed through €10 million ($11.5 million) in funding from the EU, according to a joint statement.

Interventions will include the delivery of physical toolkits and targeted cash payments as well as tailored training in entrepreneurship or climate-smart agriculture techniques in five refugee camps.

It will also maximize its sustainable, long-term impact by, for example, providing key support to village savings and loans associations.

Martin Seychell, deputy director-general at the European Commission's Directorate-General for International Partnerships, said the initiative is a concrete demonstration of the EU's support to Rwanda's ambitions to enable refugee households to move from aid dependence to self-reliance.

"This new initiative further strengthens our longstanding engagement in the Great Lakes region and reflects our broader commitment to the humanitarian–development–peace nexus, which is more essential than ever in a context of increasing pressure on limited resources,” he said.

Close to 20% of refugee households should advance towards economic inclusion.

Rwanda currently hosts over 136,000 refugees, the majority from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi, according to latest UNHCR data.

Many have relied on humanitarian aid for years.

Officials said by embedding refugee support within Rwanda’s development plans and linking beneficiaries to markets and financial services, the new project offers a replicable model for durable solutions.

Ritu Shroff, the UNHCR Representative in Rwanda, said the move “reaffirmed something fundamental: that refugees and host communities alike deserve the opportunity to live dignified, productive and independent lives — and that with the right support, they absolutely can.”

Rwanda’s refugee sustainable graduation strategy aims to help 50% of refugee households in the country transition from dependence on humanitarian assistance to sustainable livelihoods by 2030.