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FMR 64 COVID-19: early reflections 73

June 2020 www.fmreview.org/issue64

Refugee-led responses in the fight against COVID-19:
building lasting participatory models

Alexander Betts, Evan Easton-Calabria and Kate Pincock

The formal structures of humanitarian aid are struggling to respond to the consequences of
COVID-19. The work of refugee-led organisations is now more relevant than ever, and they
need to be far better supported – both now and in the longer term.

Some of the most devastating consequences community-level support rather than larger
of COVID-19 will be in the developing NGOs or international organisations.
world. Among the most vulnerable are
refugees, 85% of whom live in low and Refugee-led responses in Uganda
middle-income countries. Within refugee In Uganda, home to around 1.4 million
camps, self-isolation and social distancing refugees, refugee-led organisations have
measures are nearly impossible to been making important contributions to
implement, and people are anxious amid help provide support in both camps and
the spread of misinformation. Meanwhile, cities during the pandemic. In the Nakivale
many international staff from NGOs and Settlement in the south-west of Uganda,
the UN have been pulled out of refugee employees of the Wakati Foundation – who
camps. Other international humanitarian ordinarily work on small-scale building
organisations have significantly reduced projects – have been sewing and distributing
their capacity and funding is stretched colourful face masks. The Foundation has
to breaking point or has been diverted. also been raising awareness among the
And in many cities, where humanitarian community about COVID-19. Further north,
assistance has always been weakest, refugees in Arua, the Global Society Initiative for
face exclusion from access to government Peace and Democracy has been building
services including food distribution. an information campaign focusing on
Below the radar, and in parallel to formal preventive measures relating to hygiene
humanitarian assistance, many refugees and sanitation in the refugee camps to
are working to fill these gaps. Refugee-led help slow the spread of the virus.
organisations have long played an important Many of the most acute challenges,
but neglected role in providing protection however, are actually in urban areas. Some
and assistance to other refugees – and host refugees have reported being less afraid of
communities – in camps and cities around the virus than of its secondary consequences:
the world. It is evident that many are highly restricted access to food, medicine and
valued by their communities, and some basic services. In Kampala in April 2020,
operate on an impressive scale. However, for example, many refugees faced severe
1
they rarely receive international funding food shortages because of the lockdown.
or recognition as key operational partners The government announced on national
from a humanitarian system that is still television that non-nationals would not
premised upon a strong separation between get food aid, excepting those in refugee
the provider and the ‘beneficiary’. This is camps. According to attendees, in its urban
despite refugees consistently saying that they coordination meetings on COVID-19, UNHCR
rely on community-level support as much, recognised that refugees in Kampala needed
if not more so, than international aid. For urgent support, yet a combination of practical
instance, when we surveyed refugees in and funding constraints meant it was
Uganda and Kenya on their primary source struggling to meet food and medical needs.
of social protection, over 90% said that Urban refugee-led organisations are
in an emergency they would first turn to also trying to fill gaps. For example, in