COVID-19

Stories and news about how we're adapting
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Home COVID-19 Response

How we're adapting to COVID-19

We're responding fast, and so are the young people we work with in some of the most fragile regions.

We’ve launched funding support for SMEs in Iraq

As well as financial grants, businesses also get expert technical support, including mentoring! This support is financed by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and we hope soon to expand this pilot project to other regions.

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his story Abdulrahman Haddad
his story Shema Pacifique
her story Nowar Rahmouni (31)
his story Emrullah & Wael (34)
his story Hamza Alouini
his story Regis Umugiraneza (29)
his story Bekri Kehlavi
her story Roudaina Bou Shahine (25)
his story Marwen Cherni
her story Rugie Barry
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“GuideMe – a new way to study during COVID-19”

With the support of hired digital developers, Haddad launched his new company, GuideMe, this week. It is a student-led initiative, where academic high-achievers offer support to their fellow undergraduates. 

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“Software to stop the spread”

Pacifique and his team noticed that many people still often use physical registration (writing using a pen and paper) when checking into hotels or signing up for goods and services. They came up with a plan to remove physical touch-points for consumers in order to limit the spread of the virus from person to person.

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“Aleppo soap sales soar during COVID-19”

Former scholarship student, Nowar Rahmouni, recently graduated from the Lebanese International University in Beirut. After attending several economic empowerment workshops, Nowar established a small soap business selling organic, handmade products from Aleppo, Syria.

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“Turkish/Syrian-owned company producing ventilators”

Syrian and Turkish founders of İkiz Gen Mühendislik (Twin Gene Engineering) are now supporting the battle against COVID-19 by building ventilators.

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“Factory workers isolate to produce face masks”

With supplies of personal protective equipment, such as masks and overalls, quickly diminishing throughout Tunisia, factory workers in the northwest of the country have made a drastic and altruistic “patriotic gesture”.

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“Special delivery! Entrepreneur finds new ways to reach his customers”

Regis Umugiraneza, a 29-year-old Agribusiness graduate, had recently launched his company’s most successful product, Vitabread - a soft bread made from sweet potato. Umungiraneza was supplying over twenty five supermarkets around Rwanda with his bread until the lockdown.

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“Syrian student testing for COVID19 in Gaziantep”

Bekri Kehlavi, a Syrian medical laboratory student, is spending his evenings standing on the highway checking the temperature of travellers entering the city of Gaziantep. Kehlavi is part of a medical volunteer group that is monitoring the number of coronavirus cases in the Turkish city. 

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“Company supporting rural women during COVID-19”

“Being a social entrepreneur requires me to find new strategies and approaches". Roudaina is delivering online training in food safety to boost the skills of the women she works with.

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“Entrepreneur donates protective suits to police”

Like businesses everywhere, Cherni was forced to close his factory when Tunisia introduced a lockdown in late March. Then he saw an opportunity to keep his business operational and his staff employed. 

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“Women-led farming incubator don PPE”

Rugie is the female founder of Liberia Business Incubator (LBI), a food-processing agri-business that trains women farmers. She is relieved that her sector can continue to produce vital food supplies, but the cost of PPE is taking its toll.

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Latest updates

Survival Guide for Refugee Businesses

Check out our ‘living’ survival guide for refugee entrepreneurs during the global economic shutdown.

COVID-19 Survival Guide for Refugee Businesses