Photo by Michelle Alvarado, RET Ecuador

Welcome back to Catch Up with RET! This is our monthly newsletter where we shine a light on the stories and news that matters and give a voice to individuals who are becoming more empowered each day through our programs.

Career Opportunities

Looking for an opportunity to have a global impact? We’re currently accepting expressions of interest for consultancy that could have an enormous impact on RET’s ability to respond to crises and assist vulnerable communities in the years to come:

• Position: Consultancy for Performance-Based Fundraising (Individual or Firm)
• Location: Remote (U.S. based)
• Deadline: May 16, 2025
• Submissions will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

For more opportunities, check out our Careers page.

Featured Photo

This month’s featured photo comes from our newest project, estudiANDO (“studying” in Spanish; ando meaning “I walk”) in Ecuador, with generous funding from Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the global, billion-dollar fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises within the United Nations.

Jhondervi was only a few months old when he left Venezuela with his brother and parents in search of stability.After attending preschool in Colombia, his family eventually sought better opportunities in Ecuador. In their new home, education was a challenge: His parents had to navigate a different educational system and go through multiple processes.

RET and partners have supported Jhondervi and his family in enrolling in the education system as well as preparation classes for the placement test. By helping children like Jhondervi, we’re working to bridge the gaps between access to education and ensure that all children have access to this fundamental right. To read the full story, click here. Quieres leer la historia en español? Haz clic aquí.

Impact Story

For this month’s impact story, we’re taking a look back to our work in the 2000s with refugee youth and how education empowered them to become catalysts of change. Video in French, with English subtitles available.

To stay up to date on all our work, subscribe to our YouTube channel (and click the notification bell) to know when we post new videos.

In Brief

We’re on the ground in 15 countries. Here’s what we’ve been up to in just a few of them over the last month…

• In Peru, the kickoff workshop for the Multi-Year InclusiveEducation Program Aprender Sin Barreras (“Learning Without Barriers”) took place. Thanks to funding from EducationCannot Wait (ECW), more than 50,000 refugee, migrant, and host community children and adolescents in Lima and Trujillo will strengthen their learning and socio-emotional skills. More about the story here.
• For many young people, access to quality vocational training can be life-changing. Through the PAMSSA project in Mali, 475 youth—including10% with disabilities—have gained hands-on skills in mechanics, carpentry, food processing, tailoring, and phone repair, opening doors to sustainable jobs and entrepreneurship. Read more about this story.

Longer Reads

Here’s a roundup of a couple articles that take a deeper dive into our work.

• RET Germany, in partnership with Workers’ Samaritan Federation (ASB), KARKARA and AB2M, officially launched the CIGABA Project, a €9.2M initiative to strengthen livelihoods, food security& social cohesion in the Niger-Nigeria border region. Empowering vulnerable families and youth through vocational training, climate-smart agriculture, and peace building, this project marks a transformative step toward sustainable development. Read the full article about the launch here.
• The ILO’s Global Employment Trends for Youth 2024 report highlights that, despite the decline in the unemployment rate, young people without employment, education or training are a cause for concern. RET International designed theLivelihood Recovery Strategy in 2012 with the aim of restoring and strengthening the economic and productive capacities of refugees and their host communities, as a result of that program in Panama, Costa Rica, Venezuela and Ecuador alone, more than 4,000people were fully benefited in five years. Read the full article here, and to read this article in Spanish, check out our RET en español channel.
• Looking back: In June 2024, RET Germany, in partnership with GATE Lebanon organized an event that brought joy and excitement to the local community, fostering unity between Lebanese and Syrian children. This event was a significant moment of togetherness, with 40 children—including 25 Lebanese and 15 Syrian participants—coming together to celebrate the power of sports. Read more about this event.

That’s it for this edition of Catch Up with RET, but before we close…

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