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Uganda

Complementary capacity strengthening of national responders in Uganda (December 2018)

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1. Purpose

The purpose of these guidelines is to elaborate UNHCR approaches to complementary capacity strengthening of national responders in Uganda.

UNHCR partnerships and collaboration with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Community‐Based Organizations (CBOs) are vitally important, and increasingly so with National NGOs (NNGOs) to effectively assist refugees and host communities.

UNHCR in 2017 issued public Calls for Expression of Interest for 2018-2019 for Partnership. This led to over 142 NGOs responding to the call with Concept Notes of which 39 were National NGOs that responded. After conclusion of the validation and review process some 5 National NGOs were further identified by UNHCR and OPM based on their performance in the evaluation process and already active involvement in the refugee response to be intertwined with an International NGO through an approach locally known as “twinning” in Uganda for capacity strengthening and support in various area and fields.

The Ugandan refugee policy provides a uniquely supportive environment for empowering refugee communities. The government is well established in pursuing a comprehensive approach to refugees and is applying many of the principles set out in Annex I of the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants.

2. Background

UNHCR Uganda’s vision as articulated in the 2016-2020 Protection and Solutions Strategy and Multi-year Multi Partner strategy is to ensure that, through Uganda’s Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) approach, refugees are protected by the Government, live in safety and dignity with host communities, and progressively attain lasting solutions. The aim is to transition emergency response into sustainable solutions and government-led actions in refugee-hosting districts.

CRRF in Uganda will continue to form the over-arching policy and strategic coordination guiding all aspects of the refugee response, which fall under respective pillars of the CRRF. The CRR Framework is aiming to help direct the attention of key stakeholders and puts emphasis on sustainable innovative approaches to refugee protection and assistance, particularly for resilience and self-reliance of refugees and host communities, inclusion of refugees into social service delivery and inclusion in the national development plans. With support from UNHCR, CRRF in Uganda is led by the Government, who assumes full leadership of the process, through heading the CRRF Steering Group and the CRRF Secretariat. The roadmap which guides the implementation of CRRF in Uganda 2018-2020 was adopted in January 2018. The humanitarian refugee response in Uganda will continue to be led and coordinated by the Government of Uganda, represented by the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM, Department of Refugees) and UNHCR, with broad participation of UN and NGO partners, consistent with the Refugee Coordination Model (RCM). This coordination arrangement is geared towards achieving an effective and integrated protection response, involving members of the refugee and host communities, Government, UN agencies, national and international NGOs.