"This extraordinary commitment comes at a time of unprecedented displacement across Africa, and globally," says Kelly T. Clements, UNHCR Deputy High Commissioner. "Its scale and long-term focus on education for refugee children and youth, and on livelihoods for adults, lay the foundation for meaningful recovery and lasting contributions to host communities. The stability and opportunities such support provides are exactly what displaced communities need to rebuild their lives and move forward amid all the challenges they face."

This five-year initiative represents one of the largest private philanthropic commitments of its kind globally and expands the foundation's collaboration with UNHCR to improve long-term outcomes for refugees and displaced people, says Mastercard. 

"We've seen refugees and displaced young people make immense contributions to their communities when they have the right support," says Reeta Roy, President and CEO of the Mastercard Foundation. "As part of our Young Africa Works strategy, we are scaling high-impact partnerships that enable young people to access the education and skills needed to get a job or build their own businesses. This new commitment to UNHCR is a continuation of that approach and builds upon remarkable results achieved, enabling 68 000 youth to access work in just six months."

Mastercard Foundation says this partnership contributes to its goal of enabling 30 million young people to access dignified work by 2030, as part of the Young Africa Works strategy. The announcement was made in Nairobi at the 2025 Africa Forum on Displacement, an event co-convened by the Amahoro Coalition, Inkomoko and UNHCR and supported by the Mastercard Foundation and IKEA Foundation. Under the theme 'All-In,' the forum convenes industry leaders, government officials, philanthropic organisations and refugee-led businesses to discuss and commit to sustainable action.

Addressing an Urgent Continental Challenge

With 45 million refugees and displaced people across Africa, countries like Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo represent some of the largest displacement crises globally. This partnership will focus on these most affected regions while providing UNHCR the flexibility to respond to the cross-border nature of displacement, says the foundation. 

According to the Mastercard Foundation, the partnership aims to achieve the following:

  • enable more than half a million refugees and displaced youth (50% women, 5% persons with disabilities) to access and complete secondary education
  • support 10 000 young people in tertiary education, including university and TVET (technical and vocational education and training) programmes
  • transition 200 000 youth (70% women) into dignified work through entrepreneurship and employment, and
  • strengthen 100 local and refugee-led organisations to co-implement solutions and influence policy.

Building on Proven Impact

Since 2019, the Mastercard Foundation says it has partnered with UNHCR on several initiatives to strengthen resilience and promote entrepreneurship among displaced young people and refugees. One notable programme supporting refugees in Sudan and neighbouring countries has helped 30 000 young people return to secondary education and enabled 68 000 youth, 62% of whom are women, to access work opportunities within just six months. 

Mastercard Foundation concludes that the impact achieved in Sudan demonstrates what is possible when emergency humanitarian response evolves into investment in refugee-led development solutions. 

For more information, visit www.mastercardfdn.org. You can also follow the Mastercard Foundation on Facebook, LinkedIn, X, or on Instagram. 

*Image courtesy of contributor