JRS opens Kampala offices for refugee enterprise showcase

What the report says

Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Uganda will open its Kampala offices to the public for a two-day exhibition highlighting businesses, skills and creative work developed by refugees and host communities. According to Nile Post, the inaugural JRS Uganda Open Days are scheduled for September 25 and 26, 2026, at the organisation’s offices on St Augustine Road in Nsambya.

The event is designed to connect refugee entrepreneurs and vocational trainees with customers, financial institutions, private companies, universities, non-governmental organisations and other development partners. Current trainees and graduates of JRS livelihood programmes are expected to participate, with former trainees showcasing businesses they have built and others demonstrating skills they are still developing. The display will include fashion and design, arts and crafts, catering and African cuisine, alongside music and cultural performances.

Ami-Adolphe Mudekereza, JRS Communications Officer for Eastern and Southern Africa, said the Open Day is intended to help the public better understand JRS’s work and the impact of its programmes. JRS also said the event is meant to support pathways beyond emergency aid, with a focus on employment, entrepreneurship and socioeconomic integration.

JRS Uganda has worked in the country since 1993 and operates in Kampala and Adjumani. Its broader programmes include education, livelihoods, mental health and psychosocial support, basic assistance, pastoral care, peacebuilding and reconciliation. The organisation is part of the global Jesuit Refugee Service network, founded in 1980 to accompany and support forcibly displaced people.