Uganda’s welcome allows Congolese refugees to thrive

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On a recent Saturday morning, as the sun emerged from a thin veil of clouds, a cheerful chorus of female voices rang out across the rolling hills of the Rwamwanja refugee settlement in Uganda’s fertile south-west.

For Mahoro Florence and dozens of her fellow women farmers, these hills have become a sanctuary where survival blooms into hope. The women – some with babies tied to their backs – sing in unison as they pull weeds from a field of rice. “Most of us are single mothers,” said the 38-year-old Congolese mother of eight.

“The community here welcomed us with love. When we reached Uganda, [the government] gave us land to build our homes, and non-food items to help us settle in. We also received food rations,” she said.

When it came to making a living, the Ugandan government, once again, stepped in for Mahoro and the other women in her farming collective. “The government gave us land where we grow rice and when it is ready we sell it.”

Leaving violence behind

Such stability and security seemed impossible to Mahoro when she was forced to flee her village in Rutshuru in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2018 as horrific violence tore her family apart. She escaped to Uganda after a spate of violent acts of intimidation by armed men, who kidnapped her husband for ransom and then threatened to take her children too.

“They would capture people and forcibly conscript them into their rebel group,” Mahoro said. “If you refuse, they kidnap you and take you to the forest; if you don’t have money they kill you.”

Today, Uganda hosts more than 1.7 million refugees and asylum-seekers – more than any other country in Africa, and third in the world – and its welcoming, open-door approach has become a model of inclusivity.

A progressive policy allowing refugees to access national services, including education and health care, and providing them with plots of land for housing and small-scale cultivation has won the East African country global acclaim.

However, the continuous influx of new arrivals is putting significant pressure on the country. In the past three years, an average of 10,000 people a month have found safety in Uganda, but the sustained influx has led to overcrowding at schools and health facilities serving both refugees and surrounding host communities.

Generosity leads to self-reliance

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is working with the government of Uganda to bolster its support to refugees, for example by increasing access to livelihoods for both displaced people and host communities.

“For the refugee families I met who have been living in Rwamwanja for several years, Uganda’s policies have opened up important avenues for self-reliance,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, who recently visited Uganda.

“Granting refugees access to land, schooling, health care, vocational training and jobs boosts the local economy for everyone, including Ugandans. This model enables refugees to meaningfully contribute to society and it should be an inspiration for others,” Grandi said.

However, he warned, “We should not take Uganda’s generosity and the global public good it provides for granted.” Grandi called on donors, development partners and the private sector to support the government of Uganda. “Uganda cannot do it alone – a collective response is needed for this inclusive model to be truly sustainable,” he said.

Supporting each other

After a day’s backbreaking work, Mahoro and the other women gathered at her house for their weekly table banking meeting at which each member of the collective contributes to a shared kitty from which loans can be disbursed, for example to invest in a business, or to pay for food or clothes.

“We also keep some money aside to buy pesticides for the farm,” said Mahoro, adding that the get-together is more than a self-help savings and investment initiative; it is also an opportunity to share challenges and experiences. “When we are together, we forget the difficulties we face in our homes. We heal from the trauma we suffered.”

Mahoro has changed her life dramatically for the better since arriving in Uganda and seized every opportunity before her: besides the collective rice farm, she raises chickens to sell at the local market and has invested in a motorcycle taxi.

Now her dreams extend beyond survival. “My strength and sources of inspiration are my children. I want them to get quality education and a decent job,” Mahoro said. “I have suffered a lot, but I don’t want my children to go through the same suffering. I want them to have a bright future.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

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