Uganda 2016 Local Integration Focus: Durable Solutions Framework

The Regional Durable Solutions Secretariat (ReDSS) was created in March 2014 with the aim of maintaining a focused momentum and stakeholder engagement towards durable solutions for displaced and displacement affected communities. The secretariat was established following extensive consultations among NGOs in the region, identifying a wish and a vision to establish a body that can assist stakeholders in addressing durable solutions more consistently. ReDSS is managed through an Advisory Group comprising of NGOs: DRC, NRC, IRC, World Vision, CARE International, Save the Children International, OXFAM, ACTED, INTERSOS, Mercy Corps and Refugee Consortium of Kenya, with IRC and DRC forming the steering committee.

According to the launch statement:

“This review is part of a series aiming at piloting the ReDSS framework in different operational and policy contexts in the region, in order to test the indicators and to collect and record lessons learnt to adapt and improve it. ReDSS adapted the IASC Framework for Durable Solutions for IDPs to develop the ReDSS Solutions framework for displacement affected communities. It comprises 30 IASC indicators organised around:

1. Physical Safety – safety and security
2. Material Safety – adequate standards of living, access to livelihoods, restoration of housing land and property
3. Legal Safety – access to documentation, family reunification, participation in public affairs, access to effective remedies and justice

The framework is a rapid assessment tool that offers a snapshot in time to assess to what extent durable solutions for displaced populations have been achieved in a particular context. A traffic light system has been developed to assess the status of each indicator. The traffic light provides a comparative assessment of conditions between the displaced and the host community. A review of the indicators and the development of further guidance on how to score and rate them will take place in the coming months, involving key stakeholders. The objective is to improve and standardize the generation and availability of relevant data and analysis to better and more consistently operationalize joint response plans based on evidence in the search of durable solution in East Africa.”

In the chapter on Legal Safety, the report states that:

“[T]he Ugandan legal framework makes it very difficult, if not impossible, for refugees, no matter the length of time lived in the country, to ever fully call Uganda home. Contrary to Article 34 of the Refugee Convention, the Refugee Act and the Constitution apparently bar refugees and their children from obtaining Ugandan citizenship through naturalisation or registration.

However, some steps have been taken by the government signalling that some form of naturalization may be possible for a select group of refugees who have been in country for more than 20 years. An Inter-Ministerial Taskforce has been constituted to look into the requirements to enable an interim solution such as long-stay residence permits for 15,000 refugees who have been in the country for more than 10 years. In addition, the government is further committed to exploring the possibility of providing naturalization to 2,318 individual refugees who all arrived before 1995.”

Read the full report.