Welcome to Edition 24
HAPPY NEW YEAR! Ever the optimist, I have a feeling 2022 is going to be better for us all - admittedly that wouldn't be very hard, but we definitely deserve it!
A new year is the time for us to reflect on our achievements from last year and set ambitious goals for the year to come. My goal is to double the reach of the newsletter, so that more folk can benefit from all the excellent research and learning that is being produced and you can help - if everyone sends this newsletter onto one contact and they sign up here, I will have reached my years goal in the first month - Yay!
Submissions are always welcome – please send to Ugandrefugeenews@gmail.com and wherever possible, they will be included in the next version.
Sector specific:
Education:
Children on the Edge - Cluster Learning in Kyaka II, Uganda - Watch the Event Video
Education International - UNATU’s experience supporting teachers in refugee areas
International Journal of Educational Development - No right to read: National regulatory restrictions on refugee rights to formal education in low- and middle-income host countries - a closer look at the cases of Uganda and Bangladesh, two countries that host some of the world's largest refugee populations, yet have ompletely different legal regimes in place for refugee education, with resulting variation in education programs and outcomes. Our findings support the need to improve access to education among refugees, and we conclude with recommendations for both policy and future research.
University of Edinburgh - Blended learning in refugee education - An interim report on the Foundations for All project in Kampala and Kiryandongo, Uganda
Health:
Global Press Journal - ‘No One Helped’: Refugees Lack Vital Mental Health Care - Suicide attempts are rising in Uganda’s settlements as a vulnerable population struggles to obtain needed services.
Oxfam International et al - A People’s Vaccine for Refugees Ensuring access to COVID-19 vaccines for refugees and other displaced people
Social Science and Medicine - The 'good life', personal appearance, and mental health of Congolese refugees in Rwanda and Uganda
UNHCR - COVID-19 Risk Communication
Livelihoods
NEW - CNBC Africa - 36 Million Solutions: Africa Private Sector Forum on Forced Displacement
NEW - Toyin Ojora Saraki - 36 Million Solutions: Africa Private Sector Forum on Forced Displacement
NEW - UNHCR - Forum seeks solutions for Africa’s 36 million displaced - First-of-its-kind forum brings together business leaders, refugee change makers and the public sector in Rwanda to find solutions to forced displacement in Africa
Govt of Netherlands/IFC - Consumer and market study in Southwest and West Nile refugee-hosting areas in Uganda - This study explores economic activities, employment trends, consumption levels, access to finance, and consumer preferences of refugees and host communities in Uganda’s largest refugee-hosting areas. The aim is to understand the potential market of the eight reviewed districts and identify possible entry points for the private sector. Among the key findings, the study identified a large consumer market, worth about $485 million measured as annual consumption expenditure, and the potential to develop agribusiness value chains, formalize access to finance and engage private companies in the provision of solar products.
WASH
World Vision Uganda -
Other:
The Amahoro Collection - 36 Million Solutions Forum- Africa Private Sector Forum on Forced Displacement took place in Rwanda Nov 30- Dec 2
ECHO
Factsheet – Uganda (Last updated 20/12/2021)
Sudan and Uganda: €13.1 million in additional humanitarian funding to Africa’s Upper Nile region - The EU has allocated €13.1 million in additional humanitarian funding to Africa’s Upper Nile region, to help mitigate the consequences of the food crisis in Sudan and Uganda.
GoU/UNHCR -
ISS
Durable solutions to migration challenges in East Africa and the Horn - Migration challenges facing sending and receiving states have pushed the issue to the top of policy debates.
Video - Durable solutions to forced migration in East Africa - Forced migration in East Africa is driven by conflict and underdevelopment. Regional responses can build on Uganda’s success.
ThirdWorld Quarterly - (paid for content) - Who depends on whom? Uganda’s refugee ‘success story’, corruption and the international community - This article argues how the perceived success [of Uganda's refugee response] created a situation of mutual dependency between the Ugandan government and the international community and that the mutual dependency provided a fertile breeding ground for corruption, and negatively impacted accountability.
Uganda Radio Network - There Are Up to 100,000 Undocumented Refugees in Kampala-Lord Mayor
UNHCR -
Congolese refugees torn between returning home or remaining in exile - While sporadic fighting continues in parts of eastern DR Congo, thousands who fled to Uganda have chosen to return. Others, uncertain about the future, have opted to stay.
The first Global Compact High-Level Officials Meeting took place on 14 and 15 December 2021. Recording of the sessions can be found on the HLOM webcast recording and Uganda is mentioned in statements and speeches by: Iceland, World Bank.UNHCR data center; Malta; ITC, Amahoro Collection and Ireland
US Embassy - Uganda - Report to the Ugandan people - from the U.S. Mission in Uganda 2021 - pg 11 discusses the refugee response
Training, Events etc:
Challenge Fund for Youth Solutions - Call for Solutions – Uganda - Deadline – 31 January 2022