Digital hub empowers refugees and locals in Ecuador

Nine years ago, Andrew Castro, now the president of refugee-led organization Fundación MUEVE, arrived in Guayaquil, Ecuador from Venezuela. Soon, he “started to see that the problems of people arriving were very similar,” so he decided to work with others in the community to help new arrivals integrate and thrive in their new home.

Ecuador hosts nearly 500,000 people in need of international protection, including one of the largest refugee populations in Latin America. Yet, these communities, largely from Colombia and Venezuela, face barriers to accessing basic services and building a self-sufficient new life. Lacking adequate livelihood opportunities, nearly 60% of Venezuelan refugees and migrants in Ecuador report that socioeconomic integration is a major concern for them. It is these kinds of challenges that Andrew, through Fundación MUEVE, sought to address.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, recognizes that forcibly displaced people, like Andrew, are best suited to recognize their community’s needs and context-specific solutions. So, UNHCR’s Refugee-led Innovation Fund has been supporting Fundación MUEVE to establish a creative and digital hub in Guayaquil — a place where refugees and host community members (more than 500 of them, so far!) can gain new technological and digital skills, to boost their livelihoods opportunities or, in the case of entrepreneurs, to strengthen their own businesses.

Lexi, a refugee entrepreneur from Venezuela and a participant in the training sessions offered through the hub, notes:

“You have to dare to believe and also believe in yourself and get trained.”

The situation of refugees in Ecuador

As economic growth declines and the cost of living rises in Ecuador, refugees and migrants face increasing challenges accessing formal employment or any other type of livelihoods. Rising violence and insecurity additionally place livelihoods at risk.

This is where Fundación MUEVE has stepped in. The refugee-led organization has operated in Guayaquil since 2016 to support people arriving in the city by connecting them to livelihood opportunities and training, among other services they provide. “We are very familiar with all the problems that exist within the community [of people forced to flee],” Andrew says. “That is precisely what has allowed us, over all these years, to adapt the activities we carry out based on the needs we see within the community.”

In particular, Fundación MUEVE recognized that refugees and their hosts in Guayaquil — the second-largest refugee hosting and top manufacturing city in Ecuador — could benefit from resources and practical training. These new skills will help them build and grow their own businesses in thriving industries and markets. As Andrew says, refugees “want to contribute to the country [and] are looking for new opportunities.” While many refugees have access to informal work (as street vendors, for instance), other opportunities can remain out of reach.

Now, Fundación MUEVE’s creative and digital hub is helping to bring these opportunities to life.

The hub and its impacts so far

At the hub, members of the host and refugee communities have access to equipment and courses to help develop their economic futures. The hub is fully equipped with manufacturing machinery, such as 3D printers and scanners. Participants can also receive training in areas like sublimation printing (a process used to apply unique designs to apparel), laser cutting, engraving, and electronics manufacturing skills like circuit assembly and soldering.

Community voices have been central to this project from the get-go. The equipment and activities offered through the hub were determined in consultation with community members, who were surveyed to learn what sort of skills would most benefit their needs and livelihood aims. To make the courses accessible, information about them is disseminated via social media and messaging apps commonly used by the community. Additionally, new arrivals who could benefit from training are often referred to the hub by a nearby shelter in Guayaquil run by a UNHCR partner.

With the practical design and manufacturing skills made accessible by the hub’s courses and equipment, participants are able to grow their entrepreneurship abilities and self-sufficiency. By the end of 2024, the hub had already trained 570 people to develop their businesses, with the hope of training hundreds more by the end of the pilot. More than 20 entrepreneurs with existing businesses have boosted their capacity via training sessions or by using new skills and tools to develop products and communications materials. The space also serves as a collaborative ecosystem, connecting refugees to a network of teachers and other entrepreneurs from whom they can ask questions and seek advice.

Lexi was able to grow her business selling Venezuelan food with the tools and networking opportunities she accessed through the hub. For example, the sublimation printing course — and the printers available for use — enabled her to make her own uniforms and the digital content creation course helped her better market her business to people in the community. And the learnings did not end there; Lexi continues to get support from the hub and Fundación MUEVE’s instructors to expand her business further. “The course is over, and they keep giving you tips, they keep training you,” she says. “If you have a question, they clarify it. That helps a lot. They lend you the machines. … They give you the tools to train and grow.”

The path toward socioeconomic inclusion

With the backing of the Refugee-led Innovation Fund — which provides holistic support for forcibly displaced and stateless people to creatively address challenges in their own communities — organizations like Fundación MUEVE are empowered to create lasting interventions and scale their impact. With proven results from the pilot supported by the RLIF, Fundación MUEVE has been able to secure additional funding and support from other donors and local stakeholders. “We hope to continue growing and supporting the community in general, not only the [refugee and] migrant community but also the host community,” Andrew says, describing plans to, for instance, add a new training room to the hub.

Fundación MUEVE is also continuously looking for ways to improve the hub based on community feedback. For example, they are exploring adding new courses on computer assembly and maintenance and scheduling courses during evenings and weekends to accommodate participants with other commitments, ensuring greater participation and accessibility.

As the hub continues to take off and expand livelihood opportunities for refugees and their hosts in Guayaquil, it stands as a testament to the significance of uplifting refugees’ leadership and self-sufficiency to facilitate meaningful, sustainable socioeconomic integration. “We are doing something that is truly helping the community,” Andrew explains. “It is not just help for one day, but knowledge that stays with them and that if they put it into practice, it can continue to help them.”