Refuge28-2-Canada’s Periodical on Refugees
Dale Buscher2013
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Abstract
Increasingly refugees live in urban areas—usually in slums impacted by unemployment, poverty, overcrowding and inadequate infrastructure. Host governments oft en restrict refugees’ access to the labor market, access that can be further impeded by language barriers, arbitrary fees, and discrimination. UNHCR and its partners are seldom equipped to understand and navigate the complex urban economic environment in order to create opportunities for refugees in these settings. Based on assessments undertaken in 2010 and 2011 in Kampala, New Delhi and Johannesburg, research fi ndings indicate that refugees in urban areas adopt a variety of economic coping strategies, many of which place them at risk, and that new approaches and diff erent partnerships are needed for the design and implementation of economic programs. Th is paper presents fi ndings from the assessments and lays out strategies to address the challenges confronting urban refugees’ ability to enter and compete in the labor mar...
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New Approaches to Urban Refugee Livelihoods
Refuge: Canada's Journal on Refugees
Increasingly refugees live in urban areas—usually in slums impacted by unemployment, poverty, overcrowding and inadequate infrastructure. Host governments often restrict refugees’ access to the labor market, access that can be further impeded by language barriers, arbitrary fees, and discrimination. UNHCR and its partners are seldom equipped to understand and navigate the complex urban economic environment in order to create opportunities for refugees in these settings. Based on assessments undertaken in 2010 and 2011 in Kampala, New Delhi and Johannesburg, research findings indicate that refugees in urban areas adopt a variety of economic coping strategies, many of which place them at risk, and that new approaches and different partnerships are needed for the design and implementationof economic programs. This paper presents findings from the assessments and lays out strategies to address the challenges confronting urban refugees’ ability to enter and compete in the labor market.
New Approaches to Livelihood Challenges for Refugees in Urban Area Refuge June 2012
Refuge , 2012
Increasingly refugees live in urban areas -usually in slums impacted by unemployment, poverty, over-crowding and inadequate infrastructure. Host governments often restrict refugees' access to the labor market, access that can be further impeded by language barriers, arbitrary fees, and discrimination. UNHCR and its partners are seldom equipped to understand and navigate the complex urban economic environment in order to create opportunities for refugees in these settings. Based on assessments undertaken in 2010 and 2011 in Kampala, New Delhi and Johannesburg, research findings indicate that refugees in urban areas adopt a variety of economic coping strategies, many of which place them at risk, and that new approaches and different partnerships are needed for the design and implementation of economic programs.
ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF DEVELOPMENT STUDIES REGIONAL AND LOCAL DEVELOPMENT STUDIES (RLDS) CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES OF URBAN REFUGEE LIVELIHOODS: THE CASE OF ADDIS ABABA ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA
2019
In Ethiopia, specifically in Addis Ababa, there are many Eritrean and Somali Urban refugees. They put Addis Ababa in the top first priority area to live because Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia and is the centre for national as well as international organizations. Urban refugees have different kinds of livelihood challenges and opportunities and this research examines it. In order to achieve the objectives of the research, descriptive type of research which is led by qualitative approach was employed. In-depth interview, key informant interview, focus group discussion and document review were the central data collection techniques. In this study, Gofa Mebrat Hail for Eritrean refugees and Bole Michael for Somali refugees in Addis Ababa were selected based on their numerical upper hand as well as the prolonged settlement of the refugees in the respective areas. In-depth interview was made with Eritrean and Somali urban refugees, key informant interview with officials from ARRA, NRC, DICAC and Woreda officials from the hosting community. Purposive sampling technique was employed to select the research participants. The finding of the study shows that there are several socio-cultural and economic challenges urban refuges have been facing: High cost of living, problem of cultural adaptability like language barriers, refugees low self-esteem, psychological instability and mobility, economic crises, conflict, security challenges, violence, theft and robbery are the main challenges associated with livelihood strategies. This research also indicates that there are opportunities available on the ground to be used for sustainable development and self-reliance: availability of supportive policy frameworks and cultural Similarity between the hosting community and urban refugees. Moreover, this research revealed that urban refugees have both negative and positive impacts for the hosting community. The positive impacts include strengthen socio-economic and political relationship with neighbouring country, strengthened people-to-people relationship, transfer knowledge and skills, increase work habits, contribute for labour market, and inject foreign currency to the market. The negative impacts burdened on the hosting community are aggravated the price of rental house, increase unemployment rate, injects deviant behaviour such as addiction, conflict and violence. This research has come to conclude that urban refugee’s livelihood strategy is vulnerable for risk and shock as the result of less sustainable nature of their means of income. Key words: refugees, urban refugees, livelihood, Somali Refugees, Eritrean Refugee
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Sustainable livelihoods in Ugandan refugee settings
Question What are the factors that help or inhibit sustainable livelihoods in refugee settings? – with a focus on Uganda Summary Uganda has hosted refugees from various neighbouring conflict-affect countries for several decades. Refugees in Uganda are either self-settled in urban and rural areas or live in organised settlements. Some research suggests that self-employed refugees are somewhat more successful than employed refugees, but there is little concrete evidence from Uganda that current refugee livelihood strategies are successfully fostering self-reliance and sustainable solutions. Most of the available literature uncovered in this review is grey literature, published by both organisations working on supporting refugees and academics publishing the findings of their research in this area. Some of the factors supporting or inhibiting sustainable livelihoods in Ugandan refugee settings include: ◾The policy environment, particularly the right to work, labour rights, freedom of movement, and access to services. Uganda’s refugee assistance has development-orientated components aimed at supporting the self-reliance and resilience of entire communities. However, livelihood strategies need to be diverse, a focus on agricultural self-reliance alone is not enough. ◾Social capital and networks. Ethnic ties seem to play a particular role in Uganda, as does the ability of refugees to integrate into local communities. ◾Training and skills development can provide a foundation for self-reliance, but alone are insufficient. Lack of access to capital, markets and credit are also important. ◾Refugee profiles, as refugees of different ethnicities, ages, gender, ability, education, duration of stay, have varying levels of access to social networks, land and credit. For example, negative gender stereotypes and discriminatory attitudes towards refugees with disabilities can prevent women refugees and those with disabilities from finding work, or push them towards negative coping strategies. Refugee livelihood programming should have: localised contextual awareness; refugee and local input; partnerships with host institutions; and long-term and predictable funding.
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Paper: Transitioning from an Aid-Centered to a Development-Centered Assistance Model Helps Refugees and Host Communities and Enhances Their Resilience
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