Enhancing Refugees’ Voices in the Refugee Response Process in Uganda

The project in brief

Implemented by

Refugee Engagement Forum (REF)

Country 

Uganda

Duration 

2018  - Ongoing

Project aims 

Ensure refugee participation within the CRRF Steering Group which is the platform that represents the views of key stakeholders involved in the refugee response in Uganda.

Resources used 

• Financial resources 
• Terms of Reference 
• The refugee Act which provides for self reliance of refugees and Refugee policy which provides for the RWCs  

Partners 

• CARE International 
• OXFAM  
• IRC 
• UNHCR in partnership with Office of the Prime Minister (Uganda) 

Challenges and how they were overcome

Challenges 

Financial challenges regarding facilitating the active participation of refugees in the REF, not only at the national level, but also for the feedback and consultative processes in settlements.  

How they were overcome 

Advocacy and fundraising has been done at the different planning platforms that bring together organizations that plan and coordinate on refugee response which has yielded support to the required budget.  

Results of the Good Practice         

Increased participation of refugees in refugee response planning, implementation and monitoring. 

How the project meets the GCR objectives

The Refugee Engagement Forum allows for meaningful interventions by refugees. It allows refugees to speak to their actual needs. These are presented by representatives at the Steering Group meetings which bring together key decision makers from the Office of the Prime Minister (Department of Refugees), Local Government and other key ministries, hosting District leadership representatives, other high-level representatives (Heads) from Government, UN, IFIs, development partners, INGOs/NGOs, CSOs and/or private sector.

This contributes to Objective 2, enhance refugee self-reliance, by effectively responding to the needs of refugees and host communities, yielding sustained and positive benefits for them. This is also an avenue for feedback from refugees to donors, policy makers and development partners.