ReliefWeb

387 new asylum-seekers arrived in August, bringing the total number of new arrivals between 1 January and 31 August 2021 to 4,225, 75% are from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

From 1 January to 31 July 2021, 100 cases comprising 385 individuals were submitted to resettlement countries. A total of 259 individuals have departed on resettlement to Sweden, Canada, Finland,
Netherlands and the USA.

In August, 3,410 PoCs were supported with general Cash Based Interventions.
Cumulatively, since 1 January 2021, 10,493 refugees have received CBI assistance.

Operational Context

The Government of Zambia is leading and coordinating the refugee response in order to achieve its commitments towards the Global Compact on Refugees (CCR) and the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF). Under the 2017 Refugee Act, the Office of the Commissioner for Refugees (COR), within the Ministry of Home Affairs, is mandated to deal with refugee matters. Thus, in 2018 Zambia adopted the mainstreaming approach, which requires that all line ministries including the Ministries of Agriculture (MoA), Health, Education and Community Services contribute to key sectors under the COR. The coordination of different sectors and partners is managed through interagency meetings at district and national level. This is further strengthened through sectoral and bilateral interactions with various stakeholders. UNHCR is the primary interlocutor and lead agency for refugee issues among UN agencies. To respond to the Congolese refugee inflows in a holistic and coordinated manner, the Government of Zambia constituted an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) composed of key line ministries. The IMC is comprised of the Ministry of Home Affairs (Chair), Office of the President, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Community Development and Social Services (MCDSS), Ministry of Local Government, Ministry of General Education, Minister of Luapula Province and the UN (UN Resident Coordinator’s Office and UNHCR).

• As of 31 August 2021, Zambia hosted 101,356 people of concern (PoCs) including(71,728 refugees, 4,932 asylum seekers and 24,696 others of concern – Angolan and Rwandan former refugees).

• In August 2021, there were a total of 387 new arrivals, 150 In-Situ and 149 births registrations.

• The PoCs comprised 33,627 households, with 46.15% of the population being women, 47.13% children and 3.67% elderly.

UNHCR has four offices in Zambia: Representation Office in Lusaka, Field Offices (FO) in Solwezi and Kawambwa, and a Field Unit in Kaoma. In August 2021, UNHCR Zambia had 104 staff throughout the country who included 52 national, 24 international and 28 affiliate staff