The IRC and Citi Foundation Renew Their Partnership to Support Young People Who Have Fled Crisis
October 25 2019 - 2:00AM
Business Wire
A $3.5 million grant by the Citi Foundation’s
Pathways to Progress initiative will provide refugees and
vulnerable young people in Greece, Jordan, Nigeria, Cameroon,
Lebanon and Germany with business training and start-up grants.
A renewed partnership launched today by the International Rescue
Committee (IRC) and the Citi Foundation will support 1,300 refugees
and vulnerable young people to rebuild their livelihoods, and kick
start their economic futures.
Over the past two years, the IRC and the Citi Foundation’s
Rescuing Futures programme has already supported nearly 1,000 young
people with business training and start-up grants in Athens in
Greece, Amman in Jordan, and Yola in northeast Nigeria.
With the announcement of the new grant, the programme will
expand to cities in Germany, Lebanon and Cameroon.
There are over 70 million refugees and internally displaced
people globally. The highest on record. Not only are millions
displaced, they are displaced for longer periods, the majority live
in cities rather than camps. In this new humanitarian landscape,
earning a reliable income is critical for refugees and vulnerable
young people to survive, to rebuild their futures and to contribute
to the communities and local economies around them.
David Livingstone, CEO of Citi Europe Middle East and Africa
(EMEA), said: “Interventions such as Rescuing Futures provide
refugees and vulnerable young people with entrepreneurship and
employability training, helping them to rebuild their lives and
participate in the economy. Our partnership with the IRC over the
past two years has enabled us to play a direct role in assisting
refugees in three cities, and we are delighted to expand our
efforts to three more countries to reach more young people.”
David Miliband, President and CEO of the International Rescue
Committee, said: “Over half of refugees are under the age of 18.
They are future consumers, talent, and business owners. Crisis and
conflict are preventing them from entering the workforce, building
new markets, and reaching their full potential. We need long-term
partnerships like Rescuing Futures to rise to this challenge.
Combining the expertise behind the Citi Foundation’s Pathways to
Progress initiative with the technical and programming expertise of
the IRC means we’re able to support the workforce of tomorrow.”
In addition to training, mentorship and grants, an important
part of the programme is engaging city and community leaders to
boost social cohesion and build bridges to the local labour market.
In reality, this means Rescuing Futures will directly support more
than 3,000 people to actively engage in local markets and
communities.
The expansion of Rescuing Futures follows an event during the
2019 UN General Assembly where Citi joined the IRC and other global
business leaders to take a stand for refugees. They called on
governments to do more, starting with including refugees in their
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) plans and measurement, and for
policies that support economic access for refugees, particularly
refugee women.
About the International Rescue Committee
The International Rescue Committee responds to the world’s worst
humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education,
economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and
disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC
is at work in over 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities helping people
to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their
communities. Learn more at www.rescue-uk.org and follow the IRC on
Twitter & Facebook.
About Citi
Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million
customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and
jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments
and institutions with a broad range of financial products and
services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and
investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and
wealth management.
Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com |
Twitter: @Citi | YouTube: www.youtube.com/citi | Blog:
http://blog.citigroup.com | Facebook: www.facebook.com/citi |
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/citi.
About the Citi Foundation
The Citi Foundation works to promote economic progress and
improve the lives of people in low-income communities around the
world. We invest in efforts that increase financial inclusion,
catalyse job opportunities for youth, and reimagine approaches to
building economically vibrant cities. The Citi Foundation's "More
than Philanthropy" approach deploys the enormous expertise of Citi
and its people to fulfill our mission and drive thought leadership
and innovation.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191024006012/en/
Media Contact: Edwina Frawley-Gangahar
Edwina.frawleygangahar@citi.com
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