Oscar Sánchez Piñeiro

Senior Field Coordinator to Dohuk, Iraq at UNHCR

My experience and deep interests:

• Community & Ecosystem Building

• International Development

I am a humanitarian worker. I am always looking for new ideas that will bring solutions to refugees and displaced persons.

Born in Galicia (Spain), having lived and worked around the world, I am a connected to many cultures and issues. I believe in fairness, justice and dignity. At the moment, I work with refugees in Ecuador. I am looking for solutions that increase resiliency of refugees by proving livelihoods. A vast majority of refugees in the developing world engage in economic activity in the informal sector and make modest gains with limited support from asylum countries or the humanitarian community. A minority are successful entrepreneurs, providing much social and economic benefit to the communities they reside in. This minority provides a picture of what asylum seekers and refugees can achieve if they are properly supported, and if they are allowed to access the necessary services and opportunities. The aim is that entrepreneur refugees will not just be viewed as mere recipients of aid but actually catalysts for local economic development. Therefore, it becomes of paramount importance to enhance enterprise development initiatives with refugees.