Environmental Displacement in East-Africa!

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The poorest among us are often the ones most affected by environmental change, climate hazards, and land exploitation.

Women and children are the most vulnerable groups and at the highest risk of displacement, violent conflicts and regarding consequences of climate change - but also, many men are forced to migrate and face existential problems due to climate disasters.

East Africa (especially the Congo) faces many conflicts and forced migration processes due to the exploitation of natural resources and climate change. Land exploitation and climate change are causing an increase in involuntary migration every month, as well as hunger, disease, and other problems.

The displaced or homeless people after environmental disasters are often already traumatized by ongoing violent conflicts and poverty and are deeply anxious. Many have been separated from their families or lost relatives. Climate refugees often have no safe place to stay in their own country or town; no food to eat; no clothing, no blankets; and no clean drinking water. Children cannot study until everything is put back in order, which sometimes takes years or never happens. Furthermore, people are frequently lost in non- or disinformation about the complex backgrounds and reasons for their situations.

Our goal is to organize acute help, give background information, and spread awareness about environmental change (and its local consequences). We will do workshops and establish knowledge exchange about climate disasters and prevention strategies - while taking care of food and shelter. We are making the situation public and connecting people, institutions, projects etc. that can help. We are organizing events with experts and affected people. We are building networks of knowledge, trust, and self-reliance (se detailed description for using the funds below).

Presently, we also make the local situations internationally visible with a documentary - for which we have already talked to people in Bukavu, South Kivu, and Goma. North Kivu (the eastern part of Congo) and Kasese (western Uganda) and Mbale (Eastern Uganda), where many homes have recently been destroyed and people have died as a result of various climate disasters. For this, we work with scientists, activists, artists, etc. We are asking you kindly to support the planet and the people - and our effort with our documentary and information campaign. Thank You so much for Your help!

I will transfer the donations to YARID (more infos see below) . We will use the doneations for:

a) Acute Aid: donations will ofcourse go ito acute aid for people in the regions we work and film -including:

b) Preventive Actions - for example:

-> Details about us and the campaign:

I am Lisa Sophie Sommerfeld, head of the voluntarily "Un_Visible_World" project (based in Berlin, Germany). In addition to the project I work in geographical and social science as well as for television.

The initiative for the fundraising campaign comes from a team of two projects: the Un_Visible_World and the Kongoloko Collective. This team is working with YARID © Young African Refugees for Integral Development (a registered NGO and official Non-profit in Uganda) and also with FORTUNA and OYOUN (Cultural Projects in Berlin, https://oyoun.de/).

We all together bring attention and help to victims of environmental disasters and the often following displacement. We visit displaced people after heavy floods, destructive fires, long-term dryness, etc., to figure out their needs and give access to important current information and background knowledge.

Furthermore, we are in exchange with universities and science instituts / scientists and activist in the field of "Climate Change and Displacement".

Our recent non-profit-event was taking place at FORTUNA in Berlin with activists from Uganda and Congo (East-Africa).

Details about Kongoloko - please watch this intoduction:

Details to YARID and their use of the donations:

YARID main offices is in Kirombe, Estate Road, off Kabenga Lane, Nsambya, P.O Box 71360, Kampala. However, we have also scaled up to Kyegegwa (Kyaka II, Nakivale & Rwamwanja settlements, Western Uganda) and Lamwo (Palabek settlement) in Northern Uganda respectively. YARID is a refugee-led and humanitarian NGO registered and established in 2007 by young Congolese living in Uganda with the aim of empowering refugees, asylum seekers and displaced persons in order to overcome the burden of deprivation and vulnerability. The Organization core areas of focus are:- Research & Advocacy, Livelihood, women empowerment, job training & placement, Protection, safeguarding, and ICT / Digital competence. Since its inception, YARID has worked with small and medium donors and like-minded individuals in supporting the refugees and host communities in Uganda. They are; Asylum seekers, IOM, IRC, UNHCR, Street Child UK, UN Habitat, Toronto University, World Bank, World University Services of Canada, CO HERE, MONDO etc who have contributed immensely to help address the plight of the refugees in Uganda.Through our core programs, we support women to learn new skills and start businesses, meet urgent and basic protection needs of refugee families, prepare people to apply for jobs, teach English, equip the next generation with digital skills through ICT training, and support refugee children to gain educational opportunities. Every year, YARID serves over 4,000 individuals across Uganda.

Twitter: @yariduganda

Facebook: yariduganda

One of YARID's area of focus is on helping climate-refugees (which are many in Congo and Uganda) and on prevention of more climate disasters that cause displacement. Therefore YARID has projects for climate change adaptation and environmental conservation and environmental protection (for example through planting of trees to ensure green emission) and also YARIID has projects to support community awareness or sensitization about that topic and for the important involvement of stakeholders' in environment protection drive. The fund will be used to: scale up the local actions in the field of environmental change: though planting more trees with the refugees and the local people in their neighbourhood, organizing breakfast meetings and workshops with refugees and actors on climate change for information exchange about climate disasters and displacement, it will also support the pre- and postproduction of the documentary about climate-refugees in Uganda and Congo to make the situation intaernationally public and connecting people and to build an international network of knowledge-exchange and information-events with experts and victims. The funds will also support local activities around environmentally friendly land use that prefent further environmental degradation, f.e. through sensitization on land rights, land laws, environment laws, and material support, skills training of refugees in urban areas on briquette making in order to protect the enviroment = Because sustainable land use counts a lot for environmental protection, eco systems. Most people in Uganda especially in Urban areas survive on fuel (charcoal ) which derived from cutting down trees. Therefore, this approach will not only preserve the environment but the refugees who gain knowledge and skills should be able to sell part of the product they make in order to increase the income.Further with that sctions also YARIDs' other key area of expertise is women's empowerment will be supported. In the past over 700 vulnerable women have been supported through hands-on skills training in tailoring, and art and craft. Coupled to this, at least 50% of the women have been supported with startup kits like sowing machines, small capital to help them raise funds after completing the training. The new funds should also be used especially to empower women in sustainable and fair trade working conditions (mostly the displaced refugee-women after climate disasters) and give them the entrance to a network of knowledge, trust, and self-reliance. (So far not all the refugee-women get supported equaly due to financial / funding limitation.) So this fund will also be used to open up possebileties to more refugee-woman by open a business hub/center for this very vulnerable group who make sustainable products and then place them at this center and sell them to potential buyers in order to raise funds for them. Also the donations will be an aditional support to the refugee women to form a Village Savings & Loan Associations (VSLA) and given a small capital to help the group save and late borrow from in order to help out on their financial.