What Happens When Recognition Turns Into Hope?

Across Uganda and Zambia, a silent but impactful transformation is beginning, a transformation that is moulded not only by policy, but by the people not willing to let displacement make their future. Through the UNESCO Qualifications Passport (UQP), refugees and displaced learners are gaining recognition of their academic histories. Still it is just the start.

With every certificate is a story of interrupted journeys, complex processes with admissions and the burden of uncertainty. For many, the greatest limitations are academic abilities, access, finances and the absence of guidance with unfamiliar systems. It is here that the UQP Alumni Network is reshaping what possibility looks like through mentorship, peer-led research and community-driven innovation.

In Uganda, Martin Pete (pseudonym) knows this reality well. His academic path was disrupted by documentation challenges, administrative complexity and extreme financial hardship. The idea of continuing his studies felt very distant. Through the UQP peer-to-peer mentoring programme, Martin was matched with a mentor who helped him in admission procedures and in identifying practical pathways to move forward. The support was provided even beyond paperwork. It became emotional grounding at a moment of personal crisis.

“Education is a basic thing for every human being. Without education, you can’t do anything better for yourself or your community. My situation was very hard. No support, no financial resources. But my mentor encouraged me every time, telling me not to give up. That helped me to continue. -— Martin Pete

That encouragement changed the course of his journey. Today, Martin has been accepted into a Pharmacy programme. His story illustrates how peer-led systems complement formal recognition transforming certificates into confidence and procedures into purpose.

In Zambia, UQP alumni are extending this momentum into research and policy. Quite a lot of graduates took part in a JIGSAW and Refugee Education UK peer-researcher training programme. The initiative covered research ethics, data collection, community engagement and inclusive education models, strengthening the capacity of refugee educators to shape the systems around them.

Six participants, including UQP holder Zebron Mwenebatu, continued as peer researchers in the project Scaling Refugee Teachers’ Inclusion Models for Enhanced Wellbeing and Agency. Through interviews and fieldwork in settlements such as Mayukwayukwa, they documented lived realities and generated insights to inform more equitable education frameworks.

• “Working as a peer researcher for two weeks was even more interesting. It feels amazing to be part of the solution to one’s own problem.” — Zebron Mwenebatu

• For others, the impact was deeply personal. UQP holders Boniface Ahishakiye and Rwumbuguza Ngarura Modeste described a shift in mindset from constraint to capability.

• “I no longer saw barriers. I saw opportunities. This training gave me the confidence to start building solutions for my community,” Boniface explained.

• Rwumbuguza added: “I’m determined to build a better future for myself and my community. The UNESCO Qualifications Passport and Ustawi schools are helping me gain the skills I need to become self-sufficient. I look forward to making a positive impact.”

Meanwhile in Uganda, UQP alumni are strengthening their economic resilience through Ustawi Africa’s online entrepreneurship and innovation training. The programme focuses on leadership, business modelling, customer engagement and renewable energy solutions—practical tools that enable participants to build income-generating initiatives and lead community projects.

These efforts definitely reflect more than the individual successes. They mark a shift or a change in how displaced learners are placed within the society not as recipients of aid or assistance, but as educators, researchers, entrepreneurs and leaders.

From mentoring a single student through a complex admissions process, to designing inclusive education models in refugee settlements, UQP alumni are proving that recognition is only the first step. What follows is agency, solidarity and the power to shape one’s own future.

In Uganda and Zambia, the UNESCO Qualifications Passport is becoming more than a document. It is becoming a bridge from survival to self-determination.