A three-Year Refugees’ Project Launched for Arua City and Koboko Municipality
Due to the increasing number of urban refugees, several municipalities and regional centers are struggling to meet the needs for essential infrastructural and social amenities for the population. This is due to the fact that the refugees are not included in the national budgeting for such places yet they share services with the local communities.
It is against this backdrop that the European Union has decided to fund a three-year project aimed at increasing the safety and wellbeing of the refugees living in urban centers together with the local communities with whom they share social amenities and infrastructural services. The project has been launched in Arua City and Koboko Municipality.
The project named comprehensive refugee response framework, which is inclusive of urban development and mobility implemented by cities alliance is worth eight million and two hundred thousand Euro.
Crudo Omaro an official of the European Union Emergency Trust fund for Africa explained that this project is one of the components meant to provide better access to urban refugees.
“This project is part of Arita programs and composed of three components, one of which is implemented by city alliance and the other by Koboko Municipality,’’ Omaro explained adding that the other component is implemented in Ethiopia.
He further explained that the common elements of those two components are that the local government through the municipality of Koboko with the funding have to provide better access to services for refugees especially the urban refugees.
“Although the government of Uganda has refugees in her programs, only those registered in the settlements benefit from the government programs,’’ said Samuel Mabala, the country urban advisor of the cities alliance.
Mabala added that the three-year project will help improve service delivery to urban refugees. He further explained that the government of Uganda has concern for the refugees, however, when it comes to those living in the urban areas, the government pays less concern to support them despite the fact that Arua City and Koboko Municipality in West Nile are hosting a high population of refugees.
The refugee desk officer in the office of the Prime Minister in the West Nile Region, Solomon Osakan expressed that the project will have positive impacts.
“To ensure that it improves coordination and provides livelihood support to refugees and the communities in town, the project will ensure that it utilizes well the few facilities,” Osakan noted.
Meanwhile, the representative of refugees in Arua city development forum Catherine Sekita welcomes the project saying it will bring some equality between the refugees and the local communities in the urban areas.
“When we talk about the gaps between the refugees and the host communities, the inequalities are glaring, for instance, the lack of access to employment opportunities for the refugees, etc. this is where the project will take effect,’’ Sekita said.
According to the latest report by the office of the Prime Minister, Uganda is trying to host about one million, four hundred and sixty-two refugees while data of statistics indicates that there are over 2000 refugees in the current Arua central division.
By Gaaniko Samson Jerry
