ORAM remains steadfast in its commitment to addressing the greatest needs of LGBTIQ refugees from Ukraine. To help us achieve this, ORAM was recently awarded a grant by the Alliance for Gender Equality in Europe (AGEE) to provide access to economic opportunities for lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer (LBTIQ) women in both Central and Eastern Europe.
Building off ORAM’s economic empowerment programs in Kenya, the first phase of this new project is to connect LBTIQ displaced women from Ukraine with comprehensive job skills training and mentorship programs in Germany. This project is in partnership with Lambda Warsaw, who will help establish a work center in Poland where LBTIQ Ukrainian women refugees will be hired by Lambda to perfect their newly developed tech skills. The second and final phase is to connect the participants with dignified job opportunities in the data and tech industries.
We are thrilled to share that the first phase of our new economic empowerment project is well underway, with over a dozen LBTIQ women currently participating in skills training and mentorship programs!
One of the program’s first participants is Anastasiia, a 26-year-old queer woman from Kyiv. Anastasiia was working in marketing before being forced to flee her home due to Russia’s invasion in 2022. Upon meeting Anastasiia and learning about her background and interests, ORAM connected her with NIYA, a career management platform. She enrolled in NIYA’s data and development training program, called DataCamp, and completed her first course in data science. Her dream with this training is to pair it with her marketing background for a job path towards data analysis and marketing.
Another participant in ORAM’s new economic empowerment program is a third country national who was living in Ukraine as a student when Russia’s 2022 invasion forced her to flee. Faith, a 30-year-old bisexual woman from Nigeria, was studying computer engineering before leaving Ukraine for Berlin. Faith learned about ORAM’s economic empowerment program online and reached out for support. We connected her with KIRON, an NGO that provides free online learning opportunities for refugees, and she joined their Upskilling Program for Women. Faith is participating in their yearlong cybersecurity program, after which she hopes will lead to a job opportunity in the field.
Good luck to Anastasiia and Faith as they continue rebuilding their lives by learning new skills and pursuing new opportunities!
If you are or know an LBTIQ woman who has been forced to flee Ukraine and need employment opportunities in Germany, please fill out our online form here.