Gaining employment as a refugee in East Africa is harder than for a national. Refugees face discrimination both in entering the job market and in the monthly salary they receive once entering the job market. Barriers to refugee livelihoods lead to extreme poverty and long term negative life outcomes. The levels of poverty faced by households in Kakuma in northern Kenya can be illustrated in the behaviour of 43% of families who employ immediately harmful coping mechanisms such as spending entire days without eating.

However, there are opportunities for refugees to engage in and contribute to local and international economic growth. With the right skills, investments and networks, refugees are playing a key role in local value chains such as retail, services, manufacturing and agriculture.

With improving connectivity and market linkages refugees all over the world are engaging in remote work and generating income on-line. The pooled fund is designed to be efficient and to maximize the amount of donor funding that reaches communities affected by displacement. Cohere partners with enterprising RLOs supporting the livelihoods of their community members in the most cost-efficient manner.

Through the pooled fund, Cohere as the fund manager is able to most closely connect donors with the cause they are supporting, significantly reducing the administrative wastage associated with humanitarian funding.