DREAMS is helping hundreds of refugees star

DREAMS is one of the winners of Fast Company’s 2023 World Changing Ideas Awards. Explore the full list of projects we’re honoring for making the world more equitable, accessible, and sustainable.

As the refugee crisis intensifies around the world, NGOs in Africa are looking for innovative ways to combat poverty and hunger. Mercy Corps, Village Enterprise, and IDinsight are three nongovernmental organizations that have been collaborating on ways to address these issues for years, and in 2022 they launched a program focused on helping refugees become entrepreneurs.

The program, called DREAMS (Delivering Resilient Enterprises and Market Systems) combines two approaches the organizations had been working on: small-business mentorship and developing market ecosystems within refugee camps. DREAMS is the winner of Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Award in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa category.

“Usually, when nonprofits go to refugee contexts and provide humanitarian assistance, they’re short-term solutions that can create a cycle of dependency,” says Allison Huggins, Africa deputy regional director for Mercy Corps. “We wanted to give [the refugees] an opportunity to grow by themselves and create long-term solutions for them . . . to move forward in their goals.”

The DREAMS program offers savings groups, business training, and mentorship, as well as connections with private companies that supply, buy, or sell products and services. Together, the organizations are offering seed capital grants and are available to mediate between the private sector and the fledgling entrepreneurs, not only to help their businesses succeed but also “because we believe in the economic potential that exists in these areas,” Huggins says.

According to the UN, one-third of the world’s refugee population lives in Africa, and the average length of their displacement is 17 years. Most of these refugees live in camps, which is why DREAMS aims to help them tap into their own communities when creating their businesses, which range from breeding chickens to selling home goods to growing sesame. That way, it won’t just improve their lives but also the way the refugee camps sustain themselves. 

DREAMS has supported 1,200 households in Uganda since January 2021, launching 400 businesses in its first round. The team is currently working on a Kenya expansion. Liz Corbishley, the chief partnership officer for Village Enterprise, says the goal is “for DREAMS to be synonymous with poverty alleviation.” She hopes the model can be replicated elsewhere, noting, “We think the real innovation we’re offering is helping the development sector think differently about collaboration.”