Uganda

2013 UNHCR country operations profile - Uganda

Working environment

The context

The population of concern to UNHCR in Uganda has remained stable over the last few years, with voluntarily repatriated or resettled refugees being replaced by new arrivals. However, in mid-2011 there was a surge in the number of refugees fleeing violence in the eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). By August 2012, the influx had become an emergency, with more than 40,000 Congolese seeking safety in Uganda. They joined other new arrivals, notably from South Sudan, Somalia, Burundi, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Eritrea, who were entering at a slower rate. By August 2012 Uganda was host to more than 190,000 registered refugees and asylum-seekers.

In the past five years, Uganda has seen a fivefold increase in the number of persons of concern to UNHCR living in urban areas - from 9,000 in 2007 to 48,000 today. Most live in Kampala. The urban programme targets extremely vulnerable individuals, in alignment with UNHCR's Urban Refugee Policy.

Community-driven assessments that take into consideration age, gender and diversity are used to provide targeted health care, primary education, legal aid for victims of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and subsistence allowances for the chronically ill or incapacitated.

Ongoing crises in Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Burundi have resulted in a steady increase in the number of asylum-seekers from these countries. In late 2011, the appeals process received a significant boost when the Government established a Refugee Appeals Board.

As Uganda's Citizenship and Immigration Control Act limits naturalization and legal residency options for refugees, the matter is currently being looked into by the Constitutional Court. Disputes over land ownership are a serious concern and a threat to peaceful coexistence between host and refugee communities. Because of their potential to trigger displacements, such disputes are being closely monitored.

A Tripartite Agreement with Kenya may revive the voluntary repatriation of Kenyan refugees, although much will hinge on the results of Kenya's 2013 elections.

The needs

The bulk of UNHCR's resources will be invested in managing essential services to meet basic needs. Those in high demand are: access to effective international protection; legal support; basic shelter and core relief items; water, sanitation and hygiene; primary health care, including HIV prevention and response; and nutrition assistance, with a focus on anaemia reduction. UNHCR will also assist the most vulnerable refugees with specific needs and conduct child-protection and SGBV prevention and response programmes. In addition, it will run projects to improve primary education, livelihood opportunities and self-reliance, including food security.

UNHCR will help its government counterparts, including the Office of the Prime Minister, the Refugee Eligibility Commission, the newly created Refugee Appeals Board and district governments to build their institutional capacity to deal with refugee issues. It will also try to persuade the Government to consider providing refugees with the options of naturalization or indefinite residency status.

The invocation of cessation clauses for Rwandan refugees in mid-2013 will need to be managed in a way that does not undermine protection, and which advances the pursuit of durable solutions. In this regard, a comprehensive solutions strategy launched in Uganda in February 2012 is being implemented. Efforts on this front will need to continue in 2013.

Main objectives and targets for 2013

Basic needs and essential services

Shelter and infrastructure established, improved and maintained.

• 50 per cent of households living in adequate dwellings. Supply of potable water increased or maintained.

• Average 10-12 litres of potable water available per person per day.

Health status of the population improved.

• Under-5 mortality rate of 3.3 per 1,000 population/month. Nutritional well-being improved.

• 50 per cent prevalence of anaemia in children 6-59 months. Population has optimal access to education.

• 65 per cent of persons of concern aged 6-13 years enrolled in primary education.

Strategy and activities in 2013

In 2013 UNHCR will give priority to maintaining life-saving and life-sustaining protection and essential services. It will use strategic partnerships with UN agencies and other development actors to build the capacity of local institutions. Another key area of UNHCR activity will be the maintenance, rehabilitation or construction of essential-services infrastructure in refugee-hosting areas.

UNHCR's main protection activities will include helping the Government to improve access to registration and documentation, for instance through the issuance of identity cards, Convention Travel Documents and birth certificates.

UNHCR will scale up support to its government counterparts to ensure timely adjudication of asylum and appeal claims, ahead of the invocation of the cessation clauses for Rwandan refugees, whose applications may overwhelm current capacity.

Among urban populations, UNHCR and its partners will focus on the most vulnerable persons of concern while avoiding the creation of parallel services. In refugee-hosting districts, the advocacy agenda is geared towards expanding the circle of UN agencies and development partners with the resources and mandates to support the transition from relief-driven services to development-oriented programmes. For the residual South Sudanese population, UNHCR intends to strengthen individual case management to identify durable solutions for each household. For cases at risk of becoming stateless, UNHCR will undertake in-depth reviews to find solutions.

Constraints

There has been a tepid response to Uganda's appeals for material support to rehabilitate the natural environment and physical infrastructure that have been eroded by years of hosting refugees. The risk is that, as a consequence, the Government may impose more restrictive refugee policies.

Land disputes and encroachment also create constraints. There are no local integration prospects for persons of concern who are unable to repatriate and are ineligible for resettlement.

Organization and implementation

Coordination

The Government of Uganda provides refugees with land for housing and farming and oversees physical and legal security in the settlements with the technical, financial and material support of UNHCR. WFP provides food assistance to the refugees, while national and international NGOs run multi-sector projects under the leadership and coordination of UNHCR.

Cooperation and coordination with other UN agencies is primarily in the context of the UNDAF, MDGs and Common Services (security, health and administration) as well as through pooled funds such as the Central Emergency Relief Fund, IGAD and UN Joint programming. As part of these arrangements, UNHCR provides services to and advocates for the inclusion of refugees in the various development programmes.

Financial information

UNHCR's budget in Uganda rose steadily from 2006 to 2008 in tandem with growing needs in both refugee and IDP operations. However, in 2009, the budget was cut following a drop in the number of persons of concern as a result of voluntary repatriation to Sudan and IDP returns in northern Uganda. From 2010 to 2011, the steady influx of refugees from the DRC led to an increase in the budget, from USD 54.5 million to USD 80 million. In 2012, with an ongoing influx from the DRC, requirements are currently at USD 68.6 million.

It is expected that the 2013 budget for Uganda will be further revised through the establishment of a supplementary budget to address additional needs related to the crisis in eastern DRC which could not be assessed at the time the present budget was approved.

Source: UNHCR Global Appeal 2013 Update

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