By Sheillah Kabugondo
The Government of Uganda, through the Office of the Prime Minister, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN refugee agency, launched the Uganda roadmap towards the Global Refugee Forum (GRF) in Kampala under the theme “Uganda, The World’s Model for the Refugee Response – Let’s Make It Sustainable”.
Uganda will be a co-convenor at the second Global Refugee Forum which will take place in the second week of December 2023.
The GRF is the largest global international gathering on refugees. It is a forum where States and other actors come together every four years to share good practices and contribute with financial support, technical expertise, and policy changes to help reach the goals of the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) which was endorsed in September 2018 by the UN General Assembly with four main goals.
- Advertisement -
These goals include easing pressure on refugee host countries, enhancing refugee self-reliance, expanding access to third-country solutions, and supporting conditions in countries of origin for return in safety and dignity.
“In times of dwindling humanitarian resources, and in the spirit of International responsibility sharing under the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework, we call upon all existing and future stakeholders in the Uganda country refugee response, to support and engage in the roadmap towards the December 2023 Global Refugee Forum and also to make commitments at the Global Refugee Forum that will change the lives of refugees and the host community in Uganda,” said Helen Bugaari,Director of the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework said at the launch “That way, we shall be working together towards impactful durable solutions for refugees.”
Uganda’s preparation for the GRF is centered around five priority areas, including increasing resilience and self-reliance for refugees, taking action against climate change, sharing responsibility rather than shifting duty, localizing the refugee response by strengthening the role of national responders, and building lasting achievable and impactful solutions for refugees.