Op-Ed: Empower Refugees with enterprises to relieve them from humanitarian dependency

By Felix Oketcho

For decades, the Uganda government and development partners have supported millions of refugees with freebies in terms of humanitarian support. 

I express gratitude towards refugee initiatives rendered so far however wish to commend the International Labour Organization for this role of empowering refugees and host communities with social enterprise and job creation programmes going forward. 

Uganda currently hosts more than 1.5 million refugees making it the largest refugee population in Africa and the third largest worldwide however refugee situation remains protracted, and the country continues to receive a minimum of 500 new arrivals every month.  

Receiving refugees is a duty to Pan Africanism and humanity, I must add that refugees have caused socio-economic costs to the government and the host communities.

 Given resource constraints faced by host governments and development partners, refugees should not wait only for assistance in order to lead their lives with dignity.

 Refugees should therefore be facilitated to support themselves and their families through economic activities like running small enterprises to generate money. 

Already ILO through the PROSPECTS Programme is supporting refugees and host communities to start up businesses. These are giant steps towards self-reliance. 

We acknowledge Uganda’s refugee policies and laws are some of the most progressive in the world and are well aligned with the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) and the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR).

In line with the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF), the Government of Uganda has developed a number of response plans including the Health Response Plan, Education Response Plan, Water Response Plan and the Jobs and Livelihood Integrated Response Plan for Refugees and Host Communities.

The Ugandan Refugee Act (2006) guarantees refugees fundamental rights, including the right to participate in gainful employment; freedom of movement, and establishing businesses. Refugees are also entitled to access social services provided by the Government, including education and health care, and can settle alongside their host communities. 

As a result of progressive refugee policies and laws as well as the prevalence of peace, and security ministry of gender, the Ministry of Disaster Preparedness and ILO, have supported 100 youths undergoing apprenticeship in the hotel industry. Ninety of these are already employed. In addition under the ILO Prospects project the Ministry is strengthening its public employment services this will include establishing a digital job matching system and satellite job centres in the refugee settlements across the country.

 Refugee self-reliance is the lasting solution. The lasting solution lies in entrepreneurship and supporting refugee start-up enterprises to become self-reliant. 

According to United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) around 30 million internally displaced persons, refugees and asylum-seekers live in Africa, representing almost one-third of the world’s refugee population. 

Millions of new displacements were recorded in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Central African Republic, South Sudan and Nigeria, triggered by increasing insecurity and human rights violations. 

Uganda hosts the largest number of refugees in Africa as of 2022: Nearly 1.5 million. Sudan followed, providing asylum to just under 1.1 million individuals, while Ethiopia hosted around 880,000 refugees. In general, the East and Horn of Africa were host to most of the refugees in the continent.

 ladies and gentlemen, ILO which is a UN tripartite institution promoting social justice considers the issue of refugees in Africa as a key priority. 

In Uganda, the idea of assisting refugees is clearly embodied in Uganda’s famous “Self-Reliance Strategy” (SRS). As part of this strategy, refugees in Uganda enjoy the right to work, freedom of movement within the country, access to basic services, and the right to live in local communities as well as in defined settlements. We commend the Government of Uganda for this clear and humanitarian policy.

Ladies and gentlemen, access to employment and livelihoods has emerged as the bridge between humanitarian action and development cooperation and in this context, the ILO continues to play its part in supporting critical response programmes, including through strengthening its own policy framework to be able to respond more rapidly and effectively to these situations.

There is a need therefore to support the transition from humanitarian to development-centred assistance, which can address long-term challenges and the combined needs of the host and refugee communities and accelerate sustainable solutions to build more inclusive, cohesive and productive societies.

The role of the private sector in creating economic opportunities for both forcibly displaced persons and their host communities cannot be overestimated.  

The important role of jobs and decent work for all, including refugees, is woven into the operationalization of the ILO mandate which is to advance social justice through decent jobs for all, leaving no one behind. 

These jobs not only provide an income to the job holder but also restore dignity to households, building local economies, and contributing to socio-economic development. 

As I conclude, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Government of the Netherlands for its support which has now been extended for a second Phase II to 2027 but going forward enterprise support will build refugees self-reliance through partnerships with the private sector.

This will also ensure economic opportunities are created across all, work promote decent work, and social justice and contribute towards building cohesive societies.

Felix Oketch is the Chief Executive Officer of Elix Promotions