The International Rescue Committee’s (IRC) Refugees in East Africa: Boosting Urban Innovations for Livelihoods Development (Re:BUiLD) program is pleased to release the Year 3 Annual Report. As we focus on the fourth year of our implementation, we would like to share the progress we have made as well as learnings, and adaptations from the year ending December 31, 2023. Launched by the IRC and the IKEA Foundation in 2021, Re:BUiLD is one of the largest private investments (€30 Million) for urban refugee livelihoods in East Africa. The program targets to reach 20,000 refugees and host residents in Kampala and Nairobi.

Going by the principles of the Re:BUiLD approach that is largely anchored on flexibility and adaptive program design, we are known for continuous experimentation and learning. In September 2023 we paused to reflect on what was working and reconsidered some interventions. Key adaptations were drawn from progress indicators to inform our focus going into the future, thanks to the long-term investment from the IKEA Foundation that has powered our adaptive nature.

In this report, we highlight the significant milestones, key moments and the program changes that are born out of our client responsiveness strategy and continuous monitoring of the delivery of our interventions across our three pillars. These will build our year 4 efforts to document, amplify client voices, change stories and more importantly share learnings and evidence throughout our spheres of influence at local, national, regional and globally.