FAO calls for stronger social and economic integration of refugees in national development agenda
Launches report on the food security, resilience and well-being analysis of refugees and host communities in Northern Uganda and a new Roadmap to support refugee and host communities to be resilient and food secure
Moyo – Uganda currently hosts approximately 1.4 million refugees from South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Burundi, among others. Although Uganda has a progressive refugee policy that promotes self-reliance and favours the integration of refugees in development plans, the protracted crisis that is coupled with a continued influx of refugees threatens the sustainability of this progressive model.
In August 2017 therefore, Government, through the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) requested FAO to support the implementation of a socio-economic analysis within refugee settlements and host communities to provide a comprehensive assessment on the current state of refugees’ food security, resilience and well-being. OPM and FAO have co-published the findings that used FAO’s Resilience Index Measurement and Analysis (RIMA) tool across South Sudanese refugee hosting districts in Northern Uganda. This report, titled “Food Security, Resilience and Well-being Analysis of Refugees and Host Communities in Northern Uganda,” was officially launched on 4 September 2018 in Moyo District, West Nile region, Northern Uganda. The report recommends that the refugee response should steer its focus away from exclusively short-term, life-saving interventions in favour of integrating refugees into medium and long-term development to benefit refugee and host communities.
The report was jointly launched by the Acting Commissioner for Refugees in the Office of the Prime Minister, Mr Gerald Mehnya, together with FAO Uganda Deputy Representative/Representative a.i., Ms Priya Gujadhur.
In his remarks, Mehnya commended FAO for carrying out the analysis on behalf of the Government of Uganda, as it aimed at providing a comprehensive assessment of the current state of refugees’ food security, well-being and resilience to shocks such as drought and crop failure from pests and diseases. Mehnya further affirmed the Government of Uganda’s commitment to adopting the recommendations to help “enhance evidence-based programming and planning” of Uganda’s refugee response.
“We thank FAO for its commitment in supporting the development of Uganda in many aspects including on emergency response especially on agricultural livelihood interventions which partly has been driven by the results of this report. We would strongly encourage other implementing partners and operation partners to take advantage of this available information in planning for the interventions for refugees and host communities,” said Mehnya.
On behalf of FAO, Ms Gujadhur noted that the RIMA was timely in helping FAO to develop a new strategy to support refugee and host communities to meet not just their immediate needs but reduce risk, vulnerability, and overall levels of need; while providing a reference framework for humanitarian and development actors to contribute to a common vision for refugee livelihoods and sustainability.
“Refugees are a powerful human resource with the potential to make positive contributions to their host society, reinforcing the need for a concentrated effort of humanitarian and development actors to work together towards refugee empowerment, resilience and ultimately self-reliance. Only by working along the humanitarian – development nexus will we be able to reach the long-term goal of self-reliance,” said Gujadhur.
During the same function, FAO officially launched its new “Refugee and Host Community Response Roadmap” (2018 – 2020), a strategy document that builds directly on the findings of the RIMA report to guide FAO’s comprehensive response to support refugees and host communities. Aligned to this strategy, FAO also launched two projects that will strengthen food and income security of refugee population and host communities:
• Strengthening the Resilience of Refugee and Host-Community Livelihood Systems (Funded by the Government of Japan) through support to and skills enhancement in crop and livestock production and environmental conservation.
• Assistance to Strengthening Refugee and Host Community Households’ Self-Reliance, Income Generation and Resilience to Food and Nutrition Insecurity (Funded by the UN Central Emergency Response Fund) to help them absorb, recover and adapt in a sustainable way from the impacts of the refugee crisis.
In a statement read for him during the report launch, His Excellency Kazuaki Kameda, Ambassador of Japan to Uganda, noted that the RIMA findings demonstrate “how practical, affordable and effective local-level interventions can be undertaken to significantly improve resilience of refugees and host communities through preparedness and response, mitigation as well as adaptation”. “I hope the findings and lessons learned from the analysis can be a spring board to a shift in approach and a greater focus on building community resilience in refugee prone areas across Uganda”, he added.
The RIMA was carried out between November and December 2017 among both refugee population and host communities in Adjumani, Moyo, Yumbe, Arua, Lamwo, Koboko and Kiryandongo Districts. Under the coordination of the Office of the Prime Minister, FAO worked with the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), United Nations Emergency Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and World Food Programme (WFP). Save the Children, Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and Makerere University supported supervision of field activities.
Related Information
RIMA report online: http://www.fao.org/resilience/resources/resources-detail/en/c/1143820/