School of Liberal and Performing Arts (SLPA) Collections

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Browsing School of Liberal and Performing Arts (SLPA) Collections by Author "Acibo, Hellen"
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    Assessing the sustainability of the settlement approach to Uganda's refugee response: a case study of Bidi Bidi refugee settlement
    (Makerere University, 2023-01-09) Acibo, Hellen
    Given the insecurity situation in Uganda’s neighboring countries plus the progressive policy, the study examined Uganda’s capacity to sustain the settlement approach in Uganda’s refugee response. It explored the role played by institutional frameworks, while identifying possible threats to the settlement approach and strategies to strengthen sustainability of the settlement approach. The study was guided by the sustainable development theory because it focuses on current situations and proposes more sustainable solutions while drawing from lessons learnt and human security paradigm which is more people minded other than only states, it notes the different securities people living in states face if addressed there will be improved standards of living. It adopted a case study research design while considering a purely qualitative study approach, interviews and focus group discussion were used. The findings revealed that the whereas Uganda’s settlement approach is welcomed by the world over, Bidibidi that is one of the biggest settlements in the world is sitting on 250sqms on communal land since government does not own land in the West Nile region where majority of the refugees in country are hosted, where they allocated both residential and farm land to enable them enhance on their livelihoods. Interestingly, the study also revealed that hosting refugees has led to development in areas where the settlement is established such as creation of employment opportunities, development of settlement such as schools and health centers have been constructed. However, being praised for its generous open-door policy, the settlement approach is currently under threat due to the challenges its facing including; protracted refugee situation of high numbers amidst limited and reducing funding, environmental degradation, conflict for the limited natural resource and social services. The insights in this study have policy implications and there is need to understand why Uganda continues with an open-door policy despite reducing asylum space world over. The study therefore reveals that Uganda’s settlement approach is under threat if the current challenges are not addressed. The study therefore puts across several recommendations to different stakeholders who are important to this response among which and most importantly, government with support from its partners should procure land for refugee settlement in the West Nile areas where there is no land gazette to settle refugees, the need to come up with improved agricultural practices that will support massive and increased productivity for sustained livelihoods, develop and enforce policies in support of sustainable approaches to environmental degradation, and above all, consider comparative study from other successful countries among others.