Programme description

Title: UNHCR-BMZ Partnership Program
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Country: Transnational (2008: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Southern Sudan, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi)
Overall term: Since 2005

Context

Civil wars, border conflicts and catastrophic droughts are putting refugees and internally displaced persons in many African countries in appalling humanitarian disaster situations. These emergency situations are depriving the people of their means of existence. In many cases, it is no longer possible to guarantee the supply of staple foods and water and the simplest of everyday necessities such as blankets and clothing. Entire families, villages or ethnic communities flee from dangers and attacks to other regions of their own country and across national borders, in search of somewhere safe to live, food, water or a new livelihood.
In most cases, it is impossible to know how long such crisis situations will last. Refugees and displaced persons receive aid from neighbouring states and the international aid community mostly in refugee camps set up for this purpose. In the case of longer term crisis situations, these camps often become a burden to the host countries and the local population.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the largest aid organisation for refugees and internally displaced persons, coordinates aid provided for people who find themselves in a humanitarian emergency. The UN organisation is dependent on donations and the active support of the international community.
In 2005, UNHCR and BMZ signed the Joint Declaration of Intent on Cooperation in Development-oriented Refugee Programmes. This partnership is aimed at protecting refugees and at promoting the finding of a solution to refugee problems. GIZ has been commissioned to implement the UNHCR-BMZ Partnership Program.

Objective

Thanks to the strategic partnership between BMZ and UNHCR, the necessary bridge is built between emergency aid and long-term development goals. The living conditions of refugees, returnees and other persons affected are improved.

Approach

The commissioning party, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and the co-financing partner, UNHCR, reassess the constantly changing refugee situation in the partner countries every year, and the activities and priorities are continually adapted as required.

The main elements of the programme are: 

• The provision of support and supplies to refugees in refugee camps or settlements in order to alleviate acute supply shortages and meet basic needs: basic equipment or basic relief supplies, such as blankets, household utensils, etc.; water, sanitation facilities, construction of accommodation, staple foods, health facilities, basic education, community services, legal advice, etc.
• Return (repatriation) of refugees to their regions of origin: preparation, transport and logistics, transport assistance, repatriation assistance
• Support with reintegration into the repatriation regions: repatriation assistance or financial assistance, stop-gap goods and services to bridge the initial period, including food, informal education and vocational training, community-building measures; expansion of absorption capacities through the rebuilding of social and economic infrastructures

To support refugees not only in the host countries but also during reintegration into their countries of origin, the Partnership Program conducts activities targeted at health care (HIV/AIDS), conflict de-escalation, gender equality and environmental protection (such as providing energy-saving cooking stoves and planting trees).
An annual budget of around EUR 28 million is available for the strategic partnership, with BMZ providing one third and UNHCR two thirds.

From emergency aid to development cooperation

The transition from emergency aid to long-term development cooperation poses a great challenge. From a very early stage in the development of this transitional phase, the Partnership Program works together with other partners in order to ensure that progress already achieved can be maintained and secured in the long term. Depending on the local situation, the UNHCR-BMZ Partnership Program cooperates with other German and international development and aid organisations.

Refugee programmes and emergency aid, transitional assistance and reconstruction measures need to overlap and engage with one another as smoothly as possible. Reconstruction, reintegration, food security and crisis prevention are in many cases complementary elements in the organisation of the transition from short-term emergency aid to long-term development cooperation. Thanks to the strategic partnership between BMZ and UNHCR, the necessary bridge is built between emergency aid and long-term development goals. The living conditions of refugees, returnees and other persons affected are improved.

Results achieved so far

Each year since 2005, as many as one million refugees have been supplied with drinking water, food, emergency items and firewood in refugee camps and settlements, mainly in Chad, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi. In Kenya and Uganda, areas of land have been reforested and regenerated in and around the refugee camps. Basic health systems have been set up and water supply systems developed; support has been given to schools and refugee committees have been established in order to strengthen the capacities for self-help. Increasingly, these services have also been made available to the nearby host communities, thus minimising the potential for conflict arising from resource distribution.

Since the beginning of the programme, in cooperation with many local and international partners in the partner countries, support has been given to three million refugees and one and a half million internally displaced persons (IDPs), to help them return to their homes.
To be able to facilitate the refugees’ return and to increase the absorption capacities of the communities, 1,700 kilometres of road have been built or repaired labour-intensively, with the participation of the refugees. At the same time, by transporting building materials and through direct construction activities, some 200,000 houses have been provided for returning families and IDPs.

To enhance absorption capacities in the areas of return, 5,700 items of basic social and economic infrastructure (schools, clinics, community centres and drinking water points) have so far been built. In all, more than 75,000 communities have benefited from advice and support to ensure the sustainable reintegration of refugees. Some 600 small-scale projects supported by local authorities have been planned and implemented with the participation of those affected. More than 35,000 refugees, returnees and members of the local population, such as young people, ex-combatants and child soldiers, have been given basic vocational training to improve their employment opportunities.

Further information

• UNHCR - The UN Refugee Agency
  www.unhcr.org
• Amt des Hohen Flüchtlingskommissars der Vereinten Nationen (UNHCR)
  Website for Germany
  www.unhcr.de
• Download
  BMZ/UNHCR-Partnerschaftsprogramm. Zwischenbilanz Mai 2006.
  www.bmz.de/.../unhcr/Zwischenbilanz_06.pdf