Yvonne Ndaga, Founder of Endam Home of Hope, advocating for peace, preventing Gender Based Violence and promoting Gender Equality. Supporting Refugees livelihood through skill training empowerment. Abuja Nigeria 

On the African continent, displacement is an experiential state among more than 44 million individuals, a shocking number that is not only a humanitarian issue, but also a deep pool of untapped strength. The world has long kept these people in a tight and narrow box, just as statistics of war and weather disasters. It is an active process of reconstruction, not passive survival, of refugees, which we claim, and which we practice at Endam Home of Hope (EHHOP). Refugees are the builders of their own destiny; they are businesspeople, teachers and innovators who even though their lives have been shaken and rearranged, they have the capability to build whole communities. Advocacy, in turn, should be less patronizing as simply a voice of the voiceless, instead of being a strategic amplifier of the already-existing strong voices.

This shift is immediate due to an eye opener: UNHCR (2024) observes that the sum of money the world spends on refugees is at an all-time low, which stands to create a devastating shortage in healthcare, food security, and judicial coverage. One of the keys which narrow the distance between systemic marginalisation and purposeful inclusion in this air of scarcity is advocacy. It is the way we will transform governments and organisations to make the transition of the temporary assistance the long-term based rights. The direct correlation between social cohesion and collective economic wealth of host populations can be established as soon as we drop the victim narrative and invest in refugee-driven initiatives. Bearing the title of a true advocate would mean the dismantling of the barriers in livelihoods and education to the extent that dignity is no longer a luxury but a right.

As one of the basic pillars of Endam Home of Hope (EHHOP) we intend to make the difference in the way we tell stories, by creating a new attitude of solidarity rather than sympathy. We are bringing up a generation of changemakers by offering refugee women and youth platforms to own their narratives to redefine what the changemakers can be at the margins. We are asking governments, international partners and civil society to stop the mealy-mouthed consultation and instead make radical action by investing in the refugee agency. The point is very straightforward: to ensure that the displaced are not only heard but they are also empowered to be at the top of the tables where they are to be decided. When we enable the refugees to be at the front, we are not only addressing a crisis, but we are also motivating the continent.