The United Nations Peacebuilding Fund is set to allocate $3 million on a pilot project that will provide peacebuilding and professional skills to Somali refugees volunteering to return from Kenya to Somalia.
Announcing the pilot project on Tuesday, the Fund said it will also help refugees settle down, and begin reintegration process into a community.
UN Peacebuilding notes that the project is unique as it reaches across borders and targets the same population, first in asylum in Dadaab, Kenya, and then upon return to Baidoa, Somalia. It builds on an agreement between the governments of Kenya and Somalia and Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on the voluntary repatriation of Somali refugees living in Dadaab.
UNHCR in Kenya, as well as UNHCR, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Food and Agriculture Organizations (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Somalia will receive the funding. The Peacebeuilding Fund is currently also sponsoring other projects in Somalia, aimed at strengthening the national authority in areas liberated from rebel control.
The initiative is designed to promote coexistence and peaceful resolution of conflict in Somalia, in addition to supporting the Government’s priorities for stabilization and peace dividends, including investment in jobs. The Fund also aims to continue launching similar initiatives on return and reintegration of refugees
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