Uganda is hosting a four-day high level ministerial conference on durable solutions for refugees at Speke Resort Munyonyo, Kampala.
The conference which is set to run under the theme “Enhancing Coordinated Regional Approaches to refugee Situation in East Africa and the horn of Africa” is scheduled for Tuesday, June 13 to June 16, 2023.
According to Her Excellence Lucy Daxbacher, the Ambassador and Head of Mission Uganda and manager of EUTF protocols on free movement of persons at the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the dialogue is aimed at bringing together ministries, senior practitioners in refugee matters, and commissioners of refugee agencies from member states of the region.
She listed the member States as; Burundi, Djibouti, DRC, Ethiopia, Eriteria, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Somalia, Sudan, and South Sudan.
Ambassador Daxbacher who is representing the Executive Director of IGAD has revealed that the East African horn and Africa as a whole are hosting up to 5.3 million refugees.
“The East and the horn of Africa are having the largest number of displaced persons. At the moment, we are counting a figure of 5.3milion. Among them are refuges, internally displaced persons, including stateless persons and economic migrants,” she said.
She identified Uganda as the highest hosting country in Africa with over 1.3million refugees.
“As we speak, Uganda hosts over 1.3 million refugees. The beauty about this is, despite the magnitude, our member states continue to provide and protect with big hearts,” Ambassador Daxbacher said.
She revealed two root causes of forced displacement: the first being violent conflict, which the conference intends to address, and the second being the progressive advancement of global changes, where citizens are becoming increasingly vulnerable to drought, famine, and flash floods, among others.
“I would like to thank you our Guest of Honor, and the government of Uganda on behalf of the Executive Director IGAD, for the exemplary leadership in hosting, offering asylum space and protection to refugees,” Daxbacher said.
Eng. Hilary Onek, the Minister for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees in Uganda said that solutions for refugees in the East and horn of Africa is to retain them so that they develop the continent.
“We should retain African Refugees here so that they develop Africa. We need to transform Africa with the help of refugees, that’s why Uganda is kind to refugees,” Onek said.
Sanusi Tejan, the Chief of Mission for UN Migration Uganda, noted that, in order to overcome the difficulties, they must apply best practices from pertinent initiatives, collaborate closely with partners to develop fresh, creative solutions, and look for complementary pathways of admission for refugees.
