Introducing DREEM

The Displaced and Refugee youth Enabling Environment Mechanism project – or DREEM – is an exciting partnership between the Mastercard Foundation and WUSC in East Africa that is working to facilitate an enabling environment for the inclusion of refugee and displaced youth, especially young women, to fully participate in society. Through building more inclusive institutions and systems for refugee and displaced youth and creating opportunities to activate their leadership and grow their businesses, more refugees and displaced youth can access dignified and fulfilling economic opportunities. 

Through the DREEM project, WUSC engages with national and local government representatives, academic institutions, private sector actors, refugee-led organizations, local and international NGOs, and refugee youth to share knowledge and identify opportunities to engage in policy dialogue and identify ways to work collaboratively and elevate best practices and practical solutions to advance the inclusion of refugee youth in national, local, and institutional priorities. 

As part of this project, a Youth Advisory Committee was created in line with WUSC’s objectives to advance refugee leadership. The Youth Advisory Committee is a group of 12 young refugees whose role is to provide guidance to the DREEM project and its stakeholders to advance the objectives of the Foundation and ensure that DREEM activities are designed and delivered to meet the needs of refugees and displaced young people. These members bring both a youth and refugee perspective to the project and use their lived experience to discuss inclusion in education and comprehensive support, access to economic opportunities, and strengthening institutions and systems. To learn more about these incredible youth, watch these videos.