Why Community and Protection?
Kirehe District hosts 71,503 refugees alongside a significant host community. The two communities share the same district, markets, schools and infrastructure. When they are divided by policy, programme design or neglect, the whole district is less stable, less productive and less safe for everyone.
Refugee Horizons was built on the conviction that integration is not something that happens naturally over time. It is something that is built through deliberate, sustained programming that creates shared spaces, shared experiences and shared stakes in each other's wellbeing.
Every Refugee Horizons programme serves both refugee and host-community families. Community protection and inclusion is the programme area that makes that principle explicit, through mobilisation, advocacy and the safeguarding structures that protect every child and family we work with.
Four interconnected components that build inclusion, protect children and advocate for the rights of refugee and host-community families.
Structured activities that bring refugee and host-community families together: sport events, community forums, shared learning sessions and cultural exchanges. Shared experiences build the trust and relationships that policy alone cannot create.
Engaging local leaders, community structures and district authorities to build understanding, reduce tensions and create the conditions for sustainable integration. Mobilisation is not a one-time event. It is an ongoing relationship between Refugee Horizons and the communities we serve.
Safeguarding is embedded in every Refugee Horizons programme, not added as a compliance requirement, but built into how we design, deliver and evaluate everything we do. Every staff member and volunteer is trained. Every programme has a clear safeguarding protocol. Every child is protected.
Advocacy at district and national level for the rights of refugee families: to education, to economic participation, to protection and to the legal recognition that makes all other rights accessible. We advocate from within the community, with the community's voice, not on its behalf.
Our Safeguarding Commitment
Refugee Horizons maintains a zero-tolerance policy on all forms of abuse, exploitation and harassment. This applies to all staff, volunteers, partners and anyone acting on behalf of the organisation. Every person who works with us, in any capacity, is trained in our safeguarding policy before they begin.
If you have a safeguarding concern related to our work or staff, contact us immediately at info@refugeehorizons.org marked URGENT: SAFEGUARDING. All reports are treated confidentially and investigated promptly.
Community protection and inclusion work is strengthened by partnerships with organisations that share our values.
Partner With UsEvery donation supports the full integrated model, including the community protection and inclusion work that makes everything else possible.
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