UK for UNHCR and Visa Europe Join Forces to Unlock Refugee Potential Across Europe 

London, 4 June 2025 – UK for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency’s national charity partner, has today announced a major new partnership with Visa Europe aimed at advancing refugee livelihoods and economic inclusion in Poland and Greece. The initiative will closely support over 2,000 refugees in its first year, helping them build sustainable futures through access to training, jobs and entrepreneurship opportunities.  

The collaboration forms part of Visa’s Visa New Doors programme designed to empower displaced people across Europe with skills, tools and opportunities they need to build resilience and self-sustaining futures as individuals and entrepreneurs. 

When people are forced to flee their countries due to conflict or persecution, their work lives are forced into a standstill, leaving an enormous wealth of expertise untapped. This partnership represents an important step towards unlocking the potential of refugee communities, fostering long-term integration and economic opportunity for host countries. 

Katherine Brown, Vice President, Social Impact and Sustainability, Visa Europe, said: “Visa recognises the challenges faced by displaced people, especially as they seek to build new lives for themselves. By encouraging their entrepreneurial spirit and supporting them as they create new businesses, we can use our skills and resources to support them to create opportunities for themselves, the community and economy at large. As a leader in payments, this is very much in line with Visa’s mission to uplift everyone, everywhere. We hope that this partnership with UK for UNHCR will drive momentum for our efforts and grow significantly in scale over the years.” 

 

“This partnership with VISA Europe is a powerful example of how the private sector can turn potential into progress,” said Emma Cherniavsky, CEO of UK for UNHCR. “For many refugees, returning home is not an option – conflicts, persecution and instability have left them without a place to go back to. Yet many refugees bring with them incredible skills, expertise and ambition that is too often untapped. With the right support, refugees can rebuild their lives and participate in the communities and economies that welcome them. VISA Europe is helping to open those doors.”

In Poland, where nearly one million Ukrainians remain displacedⁱ, the partnership will support UNHCR’s socio-economic inclusion programmes through tailored language training, upskilling workshops, job matching, employment counselling and job fairs.

In Greece, where many refugees face significant barriers to entrepreneurshipⁱⁱ, the initiative will expand UNHCR’s Ready4Business programme, providing aspiring refugee entrepreneurs with the training and support they need to help launch their own businesses.

As forced displacement continues to reshape Europe’s social and economic landscape, this partnership highlights the essential role of collaboration in building resilience and opportunity.

– Ends – 

For any additional information, please contact:  

Sara Guy, Senior PR Manager, Tel.: 0208 183 0121   

Email: [email protected]  

Notes to Editors   

About UK for UNHCR   

UK for UNHCR is the UN Refugee Agency’s national charity partner for the UK. We build solidarity, create partnerships and raise funds across the UK to help deliver global humanitarian relief for refugees through UNHCR’s work. unrefugees.org.uk      

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, leads international action to protect people forced to flee their homes because of conflict and persecution. It delivers life-saving assistance like shelter, food and water, helps safeguard fundamental human rights, and develops solutions that ensure people have a safe place to call home where they can build a better future. UNHCR also works to ensure that stateless people are granted a nationality. www.unhcr.org   

UK for UNHCR is a registered charity in England and Wales (registered charity number 1183415).  

About Visa 

Visa is a global leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and governments in more than 200 countries and territories. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable and secure payments network that enables individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere can grow everyone everywhere, and we believe accessibility is critical in the movement of money in the future. For more information, visit https://www.visa.co.uk/

ⁱ999,710 Refugees from Ukraine recorded in Poland as of 17 April 2025. Data sources: UNHCR collation of statistics made available by the authorities. https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/ukraine (Accessed 29 May 2025) 

ⁱⁱWithout targeted support, refugees encounter significant barriers to employment and face even greater challenges in establishing their own businesses, such as bureaucracy, discrimination, language barriers and lack of information. www.unhcr.org/europe/news/news/hamza-refugee-iraq-entrepreneurial-journey-greece (Accessed 29 May 2025) 
See also: Refugee integration: How refugees can help businesses grow, 16 May 2024. www.unhcr.org/gr/en/news/refugee-integration-how-refugees-can-help-businesses-grow (Accessed 29 May 2025)