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Add to Preferred SourcesA new approach that lets refugees live alongside the local community in Mantapala Settlement is boosting livelihoods for all.
Zambian government, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and partners established Mantapala Settlement, an 8,000-hectare site in Luapula Province, near the border with DRC. Built around existing farmland, the site is now home to over 10,800 Congolese refugees and around 5,000 local Zambians, the majority being farmers, traders or artisans.
“Refugees often arrive with nothing but with their skills,” says UNHCR Livelihood Officer George Omondi. “It’s important they are given an opportunity to realise their potential.”
The settlement forms part of a new broader approach to refugee movements across the world. In line with the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF), Zambia is committed to including refugees in its National Development Plan (NDP) and ensuring refugees and their hosts benefit from investment in the region through development support.
“Refugees bring many opportunities including their skills and strengths that can be shared with host communities,” explains UNHCR representative to Zambia, Pierrine Aylara. “Often in Zambia they are entrepreneurs and mingle very well with the host community.”
Given the opportunity to engage, Mrs. Aylara adds, refugees are not only able to become self-sufficient, but also boost the local economy, both by buying local produce and bringing new skills to the often underdeveloped areas they settle in.
Last year, the Zambian government passed a new legislation aimed at furthering refugee inclusion, granting refugees new property rights, access to financial and judicial services, and lowering barriers to permanent residency and naturalization.
The law also lays down a framework for the settlement approach applied in Mantapala, granting refugees access to land and services and ensuring refugee-hosting areas are included in National Development Plans.
Original source: UNHCR
Published on 21 September 2018