Sustainable and Durable Solutions for Refugees and Host Communities

Uganda is hosting Africa’s largest refugee population and considered a global front runner in global refugee policy. It is Denmark’s strategic objective to promote sustainable and durable solutions for refugees and support Uganda’s stabilising role in the region.

Denmark supports Uganda’s progressive refugee policy and the implementation of the Global Compact on Refugees and the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) in refugee settlements and host communities. Denmark promotes a humanitarian-development-peace-nexus (HDP) approach in Uganda ensuring complementarity, coherence and coordination across the three pillars.

Denmark is an active participant in the CRRF, bringing together relevant stakeholders at high level – government, development partners, representatives from refugees and from host communities etc. With several policies and sector plans in place in Uganda supporting the refugee response, Denmark focus on contributing to the implementation of these policies.

Through the bilateral development programme, Denmark promotes resilience to climate change and self-reliance through adaptation and use of climate-smart agricultural practices in the areas affected by refugees, targeting both refugees and host communities.

Women and young people is a primary target group, as Denmark supports access to and use of quality services related to Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights as well as prevention and responding sexual and gender-based violence.

In accordance with Denmark's development policy strategy, Denmark will work to ensure long-term and sustainable solutions that reduce humanitarian needs and strengthens refugees' resilience and makes them self-reliant.

Uganda Refugee Resilience Initiative (URRI)

With a budget of DKK 220 million, URRI aims to create sustainable and durable solutions for Uganda’s refugees and Uganda’s refugee affected districts where high levels of poverty have exacerbated the impact of refugees and climate change. The project will furthermore support Uganda’s progressive refugee policies under the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF). It will respond to pillar 3 of the CRRF i.e. building resilience and self-reliance for refugees and host communities.

URRI promotes resilience in the refugee-affected areas through climate smart agriculture, sustainable management of the environment and gender equality. It has a strong focus on both refugees and the Ugandan host communities with women and youth as particular target groups. URRI aims to reach a ratio of 35% refugees and 65% host population. The initiative has a special focus on women empowerment and gender-responsive approaches as well as capacity development of local actors, including the district local governments.

URRI ensures women, men and youth farmers and households are at the centre of the intervention with a focus on climate resilient agricultural production and productivity at household level aimed at food security and incomes. The project also promotes peaceful co-existence and social cohesion among refugees and host communities. The programme builds on the experiences and lessons learned under NURI in relation to addressing refugee and host community relations, e.g. working with mixed farmer groups.

In order to promote alignment with Government priorities and ensure ownership and relevance, URRI involves local authorities throughout the different implementation levels of the project.

URRI will be implemented mainly in the refugee affected areas of Northern Uganda; Yumbe, Obongi, Moyo, Madi Okollo, Terego, Koboko, Adjumani and Lamwo. The project will extend to one refugee hosting district in Western Uganda, Kyegegwa, with a possibility of further expansion to more refugee hosting districts in Western Uganda.

A consortia of NGOs selected through a call for proposal will implement URRI in collaboration with relevant local government authorities. The process of selecting the consortia of NGOs is expected to conclude in third quarter 2024.

Strengthening of Adolescents and Youths (SAY) Empowerment Programme

The Strengthening of Adolescents and Youths (SAY) Empowerment Programme has a budget of DKK 100 million and aims to increase access to and utilisation of services in the area of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) and Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV). The target group is young people aged 10-24 years. To achieve this, the programme will empower young people to demand and access SRHR/SGBV information and services, strengthen service delivery and foster an enabling environment at the community and district level for young people to exercise their SRH rights and prevent SGBV.

The SAY Programme builds on the lessons learned from the Women, Adolescents and Youth (WAY) programme and it is aligned to Health Sector Integrated Refugee Response Plan 2019-2024 that seeks to build a resilient health system for sustainable and equitable access to essential health services.

The Programme is being implemented in refugee settlements and host communities in 5 selected districts of West Nile and Acholi sub-regions by multiple partners and key actors at national and sub-national levels, namely Yumbe, Obongi, Moyo, Madi Okollo, Terego, Koboko, Adjumani, Lamwo and Kyegegwa. UNFPA Uganda is the lead partner, who provides strategic and technical guidance for the programme. Marie Stopes Uganda (MSUG), CARE International in Uganda (CARE), and Naguru Teenage and Information Health Centre (NTIHC) are the implementing partners. Ministry of Health, Gender, Education and the National Population Council (NPC) and Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) are strategic partners. The programme will be implemented in close collaboration with the district local governments (DLGs) and Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) decentralized structures in the refugee settlements.

Other instruments supporting refugee affected areas in Uganda

In addition to the bilateral programme, Denmark supports Uganda as a refugee hosting country with humanitarian funding primarily through UNCHR and WFP as well as through activities implemented by the Danish Strategic Partnerships such as Danish Refugee Council and DanChurchAid. Similarly, Denmark co-funds refugee related activities implemented by organisations like the World Bank, UNFPA, UNICEF, Education Cannot Wait, and the Global Partnership for Education. Moreover, Danish private foundations such as the LEGO foundation and the Novo Nordisk Foundation are contributing to the refugee response in Uganda.