Each winner, including the new UK Prize-winner Happy Baby Community, receives GBP25,000, rewarding – and recognizing – innovative work that has successfully advanced the self-reliance of more than 50,000 refugees, forced migrants, displaced people and asylum-seekers – the cornerstone of Ockenden International since its inception in 1951.
Entries from 56 countries were represented in 2025’s record 194 submissions with the five winning projects operational respectively in Lebanon, Malaysia, Malawi, Mexico and the United Kingdom.
The global prize winners (in alphabetical order) and their winning projects are:
Alsama Project, UK, for its ‘Secondary Education Institute’ in Lebanon’s capital Beirut’s Shatila and Bourj el-Barajneh Refugee Camps, which the judges said “successfully targets young people in bridging the gap between asylum-seekers and/or refugees and their access to education. Operating in difficult circumstances the establishment of remote learning also enabled the Institute to function during war,” the judges said. They also noted that the Institute has transformed the lives of adolescents who were illiterate, which has had positive knock-on effects such as countering child marriage and providing dignified work opportunities. The judges in particular were impressed by the project having been developed by those it is serving and its quest for other educational opportunities, especially for women.
Asylum Access, Malaysia for its ‘Employment Dispute Program for Refugees in Malaysia (EDP)’. The judges commended the project for its “tight focus in very harsh conditions on refugee rights and legal protection for migrant workers vulnerable to exploitation because of their refugee status.” The project provides specialised legal and employment advice “challenging the lack of legal protection for workers who are highly vulnerable to people trafficking in Malaysia or deportation,” they said. The refugee advocates, often at great personal risk, play an important role in safeguarding the rights of these refugees,” they added.
Let’s Be Transformed (MAGUFINA), Malawi’s ‘Transforming Lives Through Technology: Mobile Phone Repair Training and Enterprise Development Program for Refugees with Disabilities in Dzaleka Refugee Camp’, was chosen for its focus on the livelihoods of disabled refugees and a strong emphasis on leadership by the refugees themselves. The judges praised the project, which was nominated by Malawi’s AREDO (Ability of Refugee Disability Organization), for its “sustainability in communities where access to specialist workshops may be limited or impossible. It’s an innovative and creative project that ticks the self-reliance box, which could be expanded and adapted to any humanitarian business by widening its scope.” The project’s beneficiaries gain respect by attaining new skills and income. The judges also praised it for the range of disabilities benefiting – and contributing – as well as its potential as a blueprint for other micro-businesses in large refugee camps.
Nest Global, Mexico, was selected by the independent panel of experts for its Tijuana-based scheme: ‘Empowering Asylum-Seeking Families through Early Childhood Education and Holistic Support’, a pre-school education project crucial to working parents, particularly single parent refugees trying to earn a living. The judges in particular liked the parenting classes provided “and Nest Global’s rounded approach to education and its role and positive effect on the whole family. Even though it is operational in one of the most violent places on Earth, Nest Tijuana’s education project is literally transforming lives, securing long-term benefits in a place of hope,” the judges said. Government policy changes in the US have made the context even more challenging “but the focus on children’s rights has enabled them to form the stable attachments so important for them in their early years,” they added.
Happy Baby Community, UK, the inaugural winner of the UK Prize for a project advancing the self-reliance of refugees and/or asylum-seekers living in Northern Ireland, Scotland, England or Wales, for its ‘Starting Well’ project in London (and Crawley, Surrey), which impressed the judges for its sensitive and holistic approach to early childhood and parenting, and more particularly for its gentle support of pregnant refugees and new mothers more often than not living far away from extended family support. The judges said: “Happy Baby Community is professional, friendly and experienced with a passionate commitment to mutual respect and care. It never turns anyone away and has an impressive involvement of refugees, most of whom were beneficiaries themselves.” HBC, they observed, “has developed strong links with local hospitals, hospital staff and volunteers, a great depth of engagement and sympathetic understanding of the women and families in their care, with an inspiring emphasis on lasting friendship and compassion.”
The chair of Ockenden International, Judith Ingham said: “Tens of thousands of refugees, forced migrants and displaced people – as well as their communities – benefit from the self-reliance and independence these innovative projects promote and extend.
“These prestigious prizes provide Ockenden’s winners with the wherewithal to further enhance their winning projects or support their work more generally, pioneering best practices and their reach in what remain amongst the most challenging and disruptive global circumstances.”
The projects entered for the prizes by this year’s finalists include an artisanal program that’s saved a dying village, community hubs, legal assistance, education, computer learning and food security – in Lebanon, India, the United Kingdom, Greece, Armenia, Malawi, Malaysia, Italy, Mexico and Moldova.
Ockenden International also acknowledges the outstanding efforts of the other five finalists who were in the running for one of the four global prizes:
Avocats Sans Frontières France nominated by I Have Rights e.V., Germany, for the ‘Samos Legal Centre’ project, which provides independent and much-needed free legal support to refugees in their quests to obtain the guaranteed right to seek asylum on one of the world’s refugee frontlines, Samos Island, Greece.
Eurocoop Servizi, Italy, ‘Jungi Mundu’ – ‘Join the World’ (in the local Italian dialect), a project based on social entrepreneurship in arts, crafts, gastronomy and hospitality that’s been the salvation of Camini, once an abandoned Calabrian village, as well as its population of refugees.
KASAPI, Greece, which means ‘Unity of Filipino Migrants in Greece’ has been nominated by the Melissa Network, for its intercultural centre and associated programs for migrant and refugee children called ‘Munting Nayon’ (Little Village) run by the Filipino community focused on integration of children in the Greek society.
Terre des Hommes Foundation Moldova’s project ‘Addressing basic needs and improving resilience of children, youth, and mothers affected by the Ukrainian refugee crisis living in Moldova’, whose primary goal is to reduce vulnerability and enhance resilience among children, youth, and mothers affected by the Ukrainian refugee crisis in Moldova, including the most vulnerable members of host communities, by providing individualized support and broader assistance in collaboration with local actors.
TUMO Center for Creative Technologies (Armenia) for its comprehensive educational empowerment, mentorship and post-war rehabilitation project called ‘TUMO for Artsakh Teens (T4AT)’, for the children of displaced families from Nagorno Karabakh following the Forced displacement of its Armenian population in September 2023.
Ockenden International also recognises the two other organizations and their projects, short listed for the inaugural UK Prize:
Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Refugee Forum UK’s ‘Voices of Refuge’ project, an ethical interpreting company. It trains refugees and asylum seekers all over the world, who have English language knowledge, in basic interpreting skills. It provides well paid, supported and trained interpreters to service providers for refugees and other vulnerable migrants in the East Midlands and beyond. It provides employment opportunities within those communities and helps people into work. Voices in Refuge is a CIC wholly owned by Nottingham Refugee Forum, which provides a wide range of services to refugees and asylum seekers, and any profits made go straight from its interpreting business, go straight back into those services.
Refugee Education UK, in partnership with Student Action for Refugees, a country-wide online project entitled ‘The Displaced Students’ Opportunities Portal’, a single portal for university scholarships and placements which helps refugees rebuild their lives through higher education by providing easy access to accurate information, guidance and opportunities for progression to and pathways through higher education.
The five cash prizes recognize and reward innovative work that delivers evidential self-reliance to refugees and/or IDPs and/or asylum-seekers in the UK, the cornerstone of Ockenden International since its inception in 1951. Four of the prizes are open to projects or programs advancing IDP/refugee self-reliance anywhere in the world. To be eligible for the new fifth prize, the entered project must be operational and benefitting refugees living in the United Kingdom.
The 12 short-listed projects for 2025 were judged by Ockenden International’s 10-member Advisory Board:
The four winning projects of 2024 came from Iraq, Thailand, Uganda and the UK:
Free Yezidi Foundation, Iraq’s ‘Enterprise and Training Center’ impressed the judges for the “agency it offers women in a traumatised community whose need is huge, given the genocide experienced by them and the sexual violence they incurred in the 2014 campaign by the terrorist regime ISIS against northern Iraq’s Yezidi ethno-religious minority and the consequent stereotyping and shame. The judges liked the fact that the Center is refugee-led, self-sufficient – and effective, providing skills training such as business management with proven effectiveness demonstrated by the examples of its bakery and toy-making enterprises as well as literacy classes. “Its objectives are clear: it is participatory in nature – as evidenced by both users and staff – and it combines holistic support and an activities approach with imperative advocacy work. It is also operating in a very difficult context,” they said.
DARE Network, Thailand’s ‘Phop Phra Centre Expansion’ drug rehabilitation project for its sympathetic support of drug-dependent refugees from Myanmar, where addiction is often a weapon of war. The judges singled out a contextual approach and its regenerative agriculture as key elements of its programme highlighting its “empathy and consequent capacity of management to share ideas, a high degree of refugee participation and openness to combining indigenous community-based knowledge and practices.” The judging panel also noted: “The recognition of organic and regenerative agricultural practices provides an interesting edge to the work that also benefits former beneficiaries. The relapse rate is impressively low, while the support of often exploited migrant workers is a strong point,” they added.
Unidos Social Innovation Center, Uganda was awarded one of the 2025 Prizes for ‘Regenerate the soil (REGESOIL)’ an agriculture project in the Nakivale Refugee Settlement, one of the world’s largest refugee camps. The judges said it is an important agricultural initiative organised by refugees for refugees, providing ecological farming instruction and the worms, training and support necessary for permaculture, a farming model that exemplifies self-reliance and self-sufficiency by improving soil productivity, yielding life-saving nutrition for refugee families dependent on what was poor-quality land. “The project also has potential for replication,” they observed.
Connected Routes C.I.C., UK for ‘The Routes Mentoring Programme’, which was praised for its successful one-to-one mentoring and focus on women. The judges noted the project’s long-term commitment to its one-on-one relationships and success at bringing mentees on board. It is focused on self-reliance and measures its impact. “It’s well-designed and thoughtful Community Interest Company (CIC) programme in London has clear goals with an impressive one-to-one metric that could be expanded into other areas of support.” The judges believe it is an example of a ‘can do’ integration initiative. “Essentially an individual development and integration project” it generates positive collective effect through its Reverse Mentoring program and an impact framework that values confidence building alongside exemplar achievement by individuals. “If amplified, the judges said, “this model could be a blueprint elsewhere.”
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