Support for refugee women and trauma counselling

RAPRED Girubuntu eV is providing a total of €6,000 to support Burundian women who have fled to Rwanda on their path to self-sufficiency. The funds were distributed among three groups: five women in Nyamata, 16 women in the Mahama refugee camp, including victims of gender-based violence, and five widows from the Dushigikirane network.

The project aims to empower these women through start-up capital and entrepreneurial training, encouraging them to engage in income-generating activities and thus combating poverty and social exclusion. A particular focus is placed on traumatized women, especially victims of rape and the political crisis in Burundi since 2015.

In addition to providing economic support, the project also aims to offer psychological support to these women in order to cope with their traumas and promote their integration into the socio-economic life of Rwanda.

The project operates at an individual level, with each woman receiving microloans documenting her progress. At the community level, specially appointed coordinators oversee the proper implementation and sustainability of the measures.

In the politically charged region of the Great African Lakes, marked by war and trauma, RAPRED Girubuntu eV also promotes psychosocial support for refugees and traumatized people as an essential part of peace and reconciliation work.