Govt scales up living standards in refugee-hosting communities 

Since 1959, Uganda has consistently welcomed refugees from various countries, maintaining an open-door policy towards refugee management.

Currently, Uganda hosts 1.6 million refugees, making it the largest refugee-hosting nation in Africa and the fifth-largest globally. As GEOFREY SERUGO writes, this inclusive policy ensures that refugees have access to the same social services as Ugandan citizens, which creates significant pressure on resources such as schools, health centers, water, energy and other vital services, causing strain on host communities.

Historically, support has been directed primarily towards refugees through emergency response efforts, leaving host communities with minimal assistance to mitigate the impacts of the refugee influx. This approach often led to increased costs and competition for resources in the host districts, with little attention given to addressing the challenges faced by these communities.

Against the growing necessity to support the refugee-hosting. communities, during the 2016 Nairobi Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) conference, member heads of state agreed to the plan of making a paradigm shift and start supporting communities across the refugee-hosting districts in confronting the socio-economic and environmental effects related to the inflow of large numbers of refugees.

Consequently, the IGAD member states designed the Development Response to Displacement Impact Project (DRDIP) as a regional multi- sectoral response project implemented in the five countries including; Uganda, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia.

In Uganda, DRDIP, which closed this year, was being implemented under the Office of the Prime Minister. It covered fifteen districts ofAdjumani, Arua, Hoima, Isingiro, Kamwenge, Kikuube, Madi-Okollo, Kiryandongo, Koboko, Kyegegwa, Moyo, Obongi, Lamwo, Terego and Yumbe.

According to the DRDIP director Dr Robert Limlim, the project that closed this year kicked off in 2017 with a $200m kitty, of which $50m was offered as credit and the $150m as a grant from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), as well as an additional $1.5m from the Solidarity Fund. DRDIP was implemented through different components including; Social Economic Services and Infrastructure (SESI), Sustainable Environment Management (SES), Livelihoods Program (LP) to support income generation and Project Policy Accountability Systems Support and Administration which supports project implementation and monitoring.

Speaking to journalists about the project performance, Limlim revealed that DRDIP implementation was hinged on District Development Plans and the National Development Plan 3, which provides for refugee management and protection under program 8 of Governance and Security.

EDUCATION SECTOR

By 2024, the project had inter-alia, built and fully furnished 924 primary classrooms and equipped them with 640 rainwater harvesting tanks, 96 staff houses, 25 administration blocks, 87 staff kitchen and 354 staff latrines.

At secondary school level, 133 classrooms, six office blocks, eight staff houses, ten dormitories, fifteen laboratories, eleven Information and Communications Technology libraries, among others were constructed and equipped with furniture and other relevant facilities.

“With this critical intervention, the project has, among others, increased students and pupils enrolment by at least 35% in just two years and expected to increase going forward, realized a 40% retention rate, lowered learners- to-desk ratio, promoted science and technology-based learning and improved general class performance at both levels,” said the director.

HEALTH SECTOR

DRDIP has realized key significant contributions towards the sector, realizing the construction and equipping of 35 general wards, three laboratory and radiology units, eighteen maternity wards, 86 blocks of staff houses, five theatres and 10 doctors’ houses, among others.

According to Limlim, putting in place physical infrastructure facilities and equipping them improved delivery of medical services especially in the area of maternal health, staff report early for duty because they reside at the health centres and can work for longer hours, a motivation that improved labour output.

ROAD SECTOR

The project support to the road sector comprised a total of 66 sub-projects, realizing the construction of 31 bridges and box culverts coupled with a total of 1187.93 kilometres of roads constructed across the refugee-hosting districts, easing internal and cross- border movement, thus improving the movement of tradable goods and services.

LIVELIHOODS: SUPPORTING ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT

The different DRDIP intervention components were all directed at improving the living standards of host communities, though, the Livelihood Program extended direct cash and agro-processing equipment to the beneficiary groups.

The project closes having supported 3,328 sub-projects/groups both in host communities and refugee settlements, 77,593 beneficiaries supported across all the beneficiary districts, 1,016 Grants Groups supported in the host communities.

Further, 332 Grants Groups were supported in the Refugee Settlements, 621 Village Revolving Funds established in host communities, 1,937 Self Help Groups provided with Revolving Funds (borrowing and lending) and 44 agro processing facilities were established and supported initiatives like; value addition, packaging, aggregation, modern storage, among others, thereby increasing job opportunities.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND BUSINESS SKILLING

DRDIP is concluding with a sustainability plan for the beneficiaries, equipping them with concrete business skills. Enterprise Uganda, has, among other expert entities been entrusted with the mandate of capacity building to offer technical knowledge to the beneficiaries.

The entity is taking charge of this component to impart life-changing business management skills through the Entrepreneurship and Business Skills Program.

According to the Enterprise Uganda Executive Director Charles Ocici, his entity’s role is to promote positive business mindset, tactics withstanding shocks in business, developing a strong saving culture and a range of other modules related to running sustainable profitable enterprises.

“We are here to add significant value to the success of DRDIP, we facilitate technical and entrepreneurial knowledge and skills transfer amongst the beneficiaries to ensure they run businesses that will last through generations even after the project has ended,” he said.

He was speaking at Lomunga Primary Schools grounds during an interview last week on the sidelines of a one-week training Enterprise Uganda organized for refugees-hosting entrepreneur communities and refugee entrepreneurs of Yumbe district.

Ocici cautioned the budding entrepreneurs to always be mindful of the need to satisfy customers through exceptional services, dreaming big, dropping the excuses of initial working capital as a hindrance…and also take the advantage of the vast areas of fertile land to engage in commercial farming since they have ready market access, an opportunity presented by their proximity to the border.

“The beneficiaries of DRDIP have to always be reminded of the opportunity to have a positive mindset about improving their livelihoods, taking advantage of this World Bank support, such that as the project winds up, they can keep lighting up the candle of entrepreneurship and serve as change agents within their communities,” he said.

Enterprise Uganda has trained over 4,500 DRDIP beneficiaries from 220 groups across Koboko, Yumbe and Moyo districts.

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