CASE STUDY
Empowering refugees
Supporting economic inclusion to strengthen local talent pools and economies
5-MINUTE READ
June 19, 2024
Accenture is helping welcome refugees in the communities where we work and live, and we recognize how they enrich our communities through their courage, strength and talent. We partner with local and global organizations to help refugees around the world gain meaningful employment and start businesses.
For more than a decade, our Skills to Succeed initiative has equipped people with skills as enablers in preparing for future employment or entrepreneurship opportunities. In fiscal 2024, programs supported by Skills to Succeed reported that approximately 5 million people worldwide benefited from this initiative. Among them were more than 36,000 refugees and migrants, strengthening the talent pools and supporting economic growth in their host countries.
More than 4,000 Accenture volunteers have actively participated in programs supporting refugees in the 12 months between World Refugee Day 2024 and 2025.
Here are some of the key organizations we partner with to help refugees around the world build new lives, find meaningful employment or start their own businesses.
Select partnerships Accenture supports
We’re helping PeaceGeeks serve newcomers to Canada, including those who have been forcibly displaced around the world. Using human-centered technology and digital tools, PeaceGeeks assists refugees and newcomers with settlement and development of employment skills, helping them reach personal and economic success in their new homeland. We have been working with PeaceGeeks since 2022 to scale the 'Welcome to Canada' app and provide users the Virtual Career Coach Experience. This program aims to support nearly 6,000 refugees into employment or formal education by August 2026.
Accenture is a member of the Tent Partnership for Refugees, a network of 500+ companies committed to connect refugees to work. Accenture takes part in hiring, training and mentorships programs for refugees across countries in Europe. In 2023, Accenture committed to partnering with organizations to help skill and support an estimated 16,000 refugee and migrant job seekers in Europe, including Ukrainian refugee women, over the next three years. We skilled nearly 12,000 refugees and migrants against this pledge in fiscal 2024 alone.
We have been partnering with Upwardly Global in Poland since 2022 to support refugees into skill-aligned jobs across industries such as business logistics, marketing, finance, accounting, IT, and legal. In fiscal 2024, the initiative has skilled more than 1,000 refugees and is working towards a goal of supporting 500 refugees into employment by June 2025. Learn more.
Since 2022, we have helped YMCA Europe establish community hubs in Ukraine, Romania, Moldova and Slovakia to help internally displaced people and refugees connect with local communities and resources, including access to skill development and support. Starting in April 2025, the program continues in Romania and Slovakia, adding Germany, focusing on comprehensive support by institutionalizing community hubs, strengthening cross-sectoral cooperation, and mobilizing resources. In fiscal 2024, it has provided more than 14,000 Ukrainian refugees and internally displaced people with holistic support, skills and know-how.
In 2023, Youth Business International and Accenture partnered to launch the Seeking Economic Empowerment and Resilience for Refugees and Migrants (SEER) program. Through November 2024, it helped equip more than 1,700 young people, including migrants and refugees (aged 18-35 years) in Germany, Ireland, Italy and Sweden with the skills, confidence, and connections to pursue entrepreneurship or secure employment.
Building on the success of the program’s first year, it was extended in 2025 to help over 1,000 more young refugees and migrants in Germany, France, Sweden and Ireland to integrate into the economies of their host countries, fostering economic resilience and social inclusion.
