MIHA Module 4 Assignment

Examination Number: Y0600476

Department of Politics

University of York

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Case Study on emergency shelter at Sudanese Refugee Camp at Dzaipi, Adjumani

District, Northern Uganda

Abstract

The case study presents the analysis of the emergency shelter needs of the Sudanese

refugees who have been resettled at Dzaipi refugee transit camp in Adjumani District,

Northern Uganda. The refugees who fled to Uganda have come from various ethnic

groups with the majority being Dinka while many people belonging to the Nuer ethnic

group have also fled into Uganda. The three Humanitarian agencies contacted by the

researcher did share records on arrivals of refugees based on their ethnicity to help in

their allocation into specific resettlement camps as strategy to prevent further violence

that may erupt due to ethnic background and difference.

The Dinka and Nuer tribes have been located into separate sites with view, said by the

humanitarian agencies to prevent further violence which made the Nuer refugees to be

taken to different sites and the Dinka also taken to another site.

This study provides information on three Humanitarian agencies operating in Northern

Uganda contacted by the researcher during the study from whom records of emergency

shelter provided to Sudanese refugees have been obtained to inform the study report to

share as academic paper in a bid to fulfil the requirements of essay assessment report

submitted for review and consideration for filing the passing grades of the University of

York.


The key findings picked on the level of emergency shelter gaps, challenges and types of

shelters provided to the Sudanese refugees in Dzaipi transit centre in Ajumani district.

Key Concepts Used

An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who is forced to flee his/her home

but who remains within his/her country’s borders.

Refugee is a person who is outside his/her country of origin or habitual residence

because they have suffered (or fear) persecution on account of race, religion, nationality,

political opinion, or because they are member of a persecuted social group or because

they are fleeing a war. Such a person may be called an asylum seeker until recognized

by the state where they make a claim.

An emergency shelter is a place for people to live temporarily when they cannot live in

their previous residence, similar to homeless shelters.

Post-disaster emergency shelter is often provided by organizations or governmental

emergency management departments, in response to natural disasters, such as a flood

or earthquake. They tend to use tents or other temporary structures, or buildings

normally used for another purpose, such as a church or school. These settlements may

be inhabited for the entire duration of the reconstruction process and should be thought

of more as settlements than shelter, and need to be planned with respect to water /

sanitation, livelihoods.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquake

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tent

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_%28building%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School


Introduction to the Case Study

The case study was carried at Dzaipi refugee transit centre located along Sudan Uganda

border to explore on the experiences on emergency shelter provision to Sudanese

refugees by humanitarian agencies operating in Northern Uganda to address their

shelter needs as a result of conflict over the leadership of South Sudan between Dinka

and Nuer ethnic tribal groups of Southern Sudan which led to forced massive

displacement of Sudanese citizens into Uganda as refugees since December 2013.

The researcher drew learning lessons hereto presented as study report on shelter needs,

types of shelter provide, gaps and challenges faced by both humanitarian agencies and

Sudanese refugees at Dzaipi refugee transit centre located along Sudan Uganda border

in Adjumani district, Northern Uganda.

The report provides both qualitative and quantitative information of basic relief items

of transitional shelter materials given to the Sudanese refugees including small plots of

land within the resettlement areas on which to pitch or construct temporal

shelter/houses.

Major Areas Covered

The researcher carried out field study at Dzaipi refugee transit centre in Adjumani

district where the majority of displaced Sudanese communities are resettled temporality

waiting for allocation into gazetted internally displaced peoples (IDPs) camps within

Northern region by the government of Uganda. The study focused on knowing the


work of humanitarian agencies operating in Northern Uganda to understand their

criteria for choosing beneficiary refugees to be provided emergency shelter supplies

including gaps and challenges they face to inform future shelter interventions in

Uganda and other conflict areas in Africa and globally.

The study was also interested to know the types of transitional shelter the refugees are

familiar with and learning lessons and good practices to adapt by any humanitarian

agencies in situations of conflict and disaster in future.

Study Objectives

The study was carried out with the following objectives:-

i) To explore and reflect on the experiences on emergency shelter provision to

Sudanese refugees by humanitarian agencies operating in Northern Uganda.

ii) To study assess practical roles of the humanitarian agencies to addressing the

shelter needs of refugees in Dzaipi refugee transit centre in Adjumani district of

Northern Uganda.

iii) To identify gaps, challenges and recommend which shelter approach (es) would

inform future emergency shelter interventions.

The field work study took four weeks beginning from 18th March – 18th April 2014.


Literature Review

The study was guided by sampled fact sheets on the impact of conflict in South Sudan ,

Uganda’s national newspapers, available reports and publications related to shelter and

housing reconstruction approaches to use during and after conflict or disaster to enable

the researcher understand and report on the level of emergency shelter interventions in

Northern Uganda. Literature review has been presented in sub themes according to the

objectives of the study.

a) Experiences of Sudanese refugees on emergency shelter provisions.

With review on the extract from news national paper stating, “In the steaming heat of

Uganda, just south of the border with South Sudan, long lines of tents crowd the Dzaipi refugee

camp where tens of thousands have fled fighting in their war-torn nation. Dzaipi was designed

for 400 people, but at one point the flood of South Sudanese refugees swelled to some 35,000 as

Uganda bears the brunt of the massive exodus from the world's youngest nation” (New Vision,

Thursday, February 27, 2014).

Backed by fact sheet report on original plan for establishment of Dzaipi as a transit

centre, “The Dzaipi transit centre in Northern Uganda which was originally designed for 400

people, is still hosting more than 20,000 refugees” (South Sudan Fact Sheet # 17 January 17,

2014).

The above literature references indicatively reveal that any transitional shelter in the

form of tents, tarpaulin or plastic sheets so far provided to Sudanese refugees can not


enough to cover everybody due to constantly swelling population of displacement

communities into Uganda, which calls for concerted efforts of humanitarian agencies,

international communities, NGOs and government agencies to come to their rescue

otherwise the information presented by both government news paper and South Sudan

fact sheet give the impression that the Sudanese refugees are faced up with the

challenges of accessing transitional shelter from humanitarian agencies operating in the

Dzaipi refugee transit centre.

b) What humanitarian agencies are doing to address shelter needs of Sudanese

refugees at Dzaipi transit centre.

The quotes of Barakat provide acceptable approaches to emergency shelter provisions

as, “Alternative approaches to transitional and temporary housing provision to victims of

conflict and disaster” (Housing reconstruction after conflict and disaster, Barakat, S.

2003).

According to Barakat (2003), the most causes of either rural urban forced immigration is

conflict which has been reported over the years that this do occur as a result of dramatic

increase in societal conflict, or with intrastate conflicts having been the most prevalent

form of armed conflict globally to date. This means the changing nature of warfare has

resulted in millions of people being internally displaced, as local battles spill over into

civilian areas while millions of people are forced out of their country to live abroad as

refugees; Sudanese refugees being a case in point in this study lessons.


The types of emergency shelter the researcher found in line with the recommendation

of Barakat, being provided to Sudanese refugees by humanitarian agencies on the

ground comprises of tarpaulins, cone tents with sleeping bags and temporal houses

made out of spear grass and mud blocks constructed on plots of land gazetted by

Adjumani district local government with some refugees allowed to construct temporal

shelter and semi permanent houses on community land owned and offered by good

will of community members within and around Dzaipi refugee transit centre, being one

of the biggest refugee resettlement area in Northern Uganda.

The researcher supports Barakat’ recommendation about provision of alternative

approaches to housing reconstruction during after conflicts or disaster after making

contacts with international agencies such as Medical Teams International Uganda who

provides emergency medical aids together with cone tents to families with sick people,

babies and sucking mothers, Red Cross Uganda who provides tents and tarpaulins and

cone tents to refugee households with sick people, babies and sucking mothers and

World Food Program who provides relief foods, tarpaulins, tents and agricultural seeds

to support refugee livelihoods through small scale cultivation and production of short

term yielding farm seeds to registered and settled Sudanese refugees on gazetted

settlement areas in and around Dzaipi refugee transit centre.


c) Gaps and challenges faced by both humanitarian agencies and Sudanese

refugees.

As written in the national newspaper hereto quoted as, “In the steaming heat of Uganda,

just south of the border with South Sudan, long lines of tents crowd the Dzaipi refugee camp

where tens of thousands have fled fighting in their war-torn nation. Dzaipi was designed for 400

people, but at one point the flood of South Sudanese refugees swelled to some 35,000 as Uganda

bears the brunt of the massive exodus from the world's youngest nation” (New Vision,

Thursday, February 27, 2014).

In light to the above literature reference, the study report has revealed the over

population of Sudanese refugees, inadequate supply of tents, tarpaulins and basic

household commodities by humanitarian agencies to households who have sought for

resettlement at Dzaipi refugee transit centre as the outstanding gaps and challenges

registered through the study findings being faced by both humanitarian agencies and

the refugees themselves. Another challenges witnessed during the study exercise is the

availability of enough free land where to the Sudanese refugees can be located for

resettlement and construction of either temporary shelter/houses or live for extended

period there is conflict in their country, save the gazetted areas through intervention of

Adjumani district local government and individual community members who acted as

Good Samaritans to offering limited land for some Sudanese refugees to squat

temporarily while waiting to be shown and directed to planned internally peoples’


displaced (IDPs) camps within the district or elsewhere outside as deem on the

availability of large areas befitting resettlement purposes.

Methodology

The report describes the methodology that was employed in order to answer the study

objectives raised. This includes sample selection procedure, data gathering, analysis and

presentation.

Methods that were used to collect relevant information

The researcher visited Dzaipi refugee transit centre in Adjumani district, Northern

Uganda where he carried out this field study. The study was aimed at exploring and

reflecting on the experiences on emergency shelter provision to Sudanese refugees by

humanitarian agencies, assessing practical roles of the humanitarian agencies to

addressing the shelter needs of refugees at Dzaipi refugee transit centre and identifying

gaps, challenges in order to give recommendations on which shelter approach (es) to

adapt for future emergency shelter interventions in conflict and disaster affected areas

in any parts of the country and the world.

Research Design and Methods

An exploratory qualitative research design was used to obtain narrative and rich

descriptions of resettlement experience of both Sudanese fleeing into Northern Uganda

due to destructive impacts of the civil war in South Sudan and the community where

they are being resettled. Qualitative methods have been chosen as the most feasible


study tool to assess and examine the plight of the refugees including the challenges

faced by humanitarian actors providing emergency shelter and problems affecting

Sudanese refugee’s resettlement in refugee camps in Northern Uganda.

The researcher employed semi structured questionnaires to carry out one to one and

group interview sessions in order to give the study respondents freedom to share

opinions, views and suggestions on which emergency shelter approach they feel they

are comfortable with during the supply and distribution of particular transitional

shelter materials, where the majority opted for semi permanent houses and grass

thatched houses made from spear grass and mud walls in preference to provision of

tents and tarpaulins which do not last during rainy and windy weather conditions of

Adjumani district due to Sudan Uganda border climate differences.

Study Site

The site where the researcher carried out this study has been at Dzaipi transit centre,

one of the largest Sudanese refugee resettlement camps located at Adjumani district in

Northern Uganda. This transit centre has been reported of having overwhelming

population of about 35,000 refugees who have so far arrived from South Sudan seeking

for resettlement in Northern Uganda, and Dzaipi village now becoming urban

internally peoples’ displaced (IDPs) camps has been a suitable place to use as transit

centre because of its closeness to the border of South Sudan, spacious government free

land which accommodates resettlement activities of incoming refugees.


Study Population

The researcher also participated as both interviewer and observer during the

administration of semi structured questionnaires to widows, widowers, child headed

households and refugee leaders living within the jurisdiction of Dzaipi refugee transit

centre. The study population was expected to cover the categories summarized as

below.

Study Population

Category of the Study Population Total Population

Widows 50

Widowers 50

Child headed households 50

Refugee leaders 50

Local Leaders 50

Humanitarian agency top

managers

50

Total 300

(Table 1) Source: Study primary data

Study Sample

A sample of 300 respondents was obtained from a sampling frame of the selected study

population in a non random (purposive) manner based on their gender, age and

resettlement experiences of emergency shelter during the period of displacement and

relocation from South Sudan into Uganda in order to inform the study findings in

accordance to the study objectives.


The specific purposive strategy in which the three categories: the widows, widowers,

child headed households and refugee leaders were asked same questions but structured

in different ways so as to establish any divergences in response. The respondents

included also local leaders and humanitarian agency top managers.

Out of the 150 respondents in general; 25 were widows; 25 were widowers; 25 were

child headed households; 25 were refugee leaders; 25 were local leaders; and 25 were

top managers of humanitarian agencies. The categories of the respondents and the size

of the sample studied are summarized below.

Sample Size

Category of the Study

Population

Total

Population

Sample

Size

Widows 50 25

Widowers 50 25

Child headed households 50 25

Refugee leaders 50 25

Local leaders 50 25


managers

50 25

Total 300 150


Questionnaire Design

The study employed a semi-structured questionnaire to determine the opinion,

attitudes, preferences and perceptions of persons of interest to the researcher.


The questionnaire technique was chosen for this study for the following reasons:

a) To ask the same questions from all the participants in the study.

b) To use descriptive and analytical research for summarising and analyzing collected

data.

c) To report the results of each question with a large number of inputs.

The questionnaire included both the closed form which permits limited responses (a

multiple choice question) and open form which permits any responses in the

participant’s own words. The questionnaires were expected to accomplish the following

tasks.

a) To collect data from sampled refugees from within the Dzaipi transit centre who

have under gone through displacement process and free to share their experience on

emergency shelter.

b) To collect data from refugee key informants such as refugee leaders, local leaders

and humanitarian agency managers conversant with the concept of emergency

shelter approach.

Procedure

Prior to accessing the respondents, the researcher got permission from the Resident

District Commissioner (President Representative Officer at district level). The purpose

of the study was explained to all individual respondents and their consent was sought.

It is important to note that all participants in the study and the information they

provided were requested confidentially as a condition for their participation in the field


study. The study data was collected with the help from the respondents who

demonstrated openness and freely provided all information requested by the

researcher.

Limitations of the Study

The major limitations of this study need to be cited:

a) Accessing records and documents from the humanitarian organization was a

problem. This was because they were not sure of the confidentiality in their use by

the researcher.

b) In some instances, some respondents, particularly local leaders and humanitarian

agency top managers had to be contacted on phone rather than face-to-face which

increased costs of the study.

c) The sample was limited to all those who voluntarily participated and provided by

responding freely to the questionnaires.

d) The study being too short, the generalization of the results may be limited.

e) The participation of employees sometimes was dependent on supervisors’

willingness to invite them to participate in the answering of the questionnaires given

to them.

Data Collection

Qualitative and qualitative data was collected through administration of semi

structured questionnaires by the researcher offered during face to face interview

approach prompting the invitation of the respondents to freely provide the required


descriptive and quantifying information such as length of time at Dzaipi refugee transit

centre, length of time the humanitarian agencies operated in Dzaipi, gender, age and

occupation or education level of sampled respondents required by study in accordance

with the objectives of the planned study on Dzaipi refugee transit centre. The

respondents were given ample time to share and tell their stories about the resettlement

process, concerns prior to resettlement of Sudanese refugees at the transit centre, access

to emergency shelter provision from humanitarian agencies operating in Northern

Uganda and actions on the part of individuals, especially local leaders within the

community in relation to hosting of arriving refugees from South Sudan.

Check List

Secondary data sources were reviewed using a checklist based on time of arrival, place

of resettlement, numbers of households provided emergency shelter, frequency of sex,

shelter distribution points per humanitarian agency and time of accessibility. The

qualitative data is based up on the descriptive level and reference to the literature

review.

Data Analysis and Control

All responses from sampled respondents during the interview process related to

challenges and problems faced by refugees located at Dzaipi transit centre has been

used to inform the study findings.


Data processing and analyses were conducted through scores of responses, editing,

classification and tabulations for both qualitative and quantitative methods. The data

collected were processed to limited levels and all study schedules for primary data

collection were edited to check for accuracy, completeness, uniformity, and consistency

of information and data gathered.

Study Findings i) Refugee Participants Characteristics

The study findings focused on the background of refugee participants, resettlement

processes involving humanitarian agencies including provision of emergency shelter,

challenges and problems encountered during provision of emergency shelter and the

response from the community towards the shelter needs of Sudanese refugees resettled

at Dzaipi transit centre in Adjumani district.

a) Respondents Characteristics

The respondents who participated in this research undertaking were of two categories:

Local leaders and humanitarian agency top managers as key informants; and widows,

widowers, child headed households and refugee camp leaders taken as target

respondents which details is shown in the table below.


Target Respondents Sex

Orientation

F M Total

Widows 25 00 25

Widowers 00 25 25

Child headed households 13 12 25

Refugee leaders 15 10 25

Local Leaders 10 15 25


managers

16 9 25

Total 79 71 150


The data collected was recorded and analysed with interpretation showing 25 widows,

25 widowers, 13 female and 12 male child headed households, 15 female and 10 refugee

leaders, 10 female and 15 local leaders, and 16 female and 9 male top managers of

humanitarian agencies operating in Dzaipi refugee transit centre.

b) Sex Status

The respondent’s gender status is as shown in the table below.

Sex Frequency Percentage (%)

Male 71 45.5

Female 79 54.5

Total 150 100


The table above reveals the female respondents as the majority while male forming the

minority respondents interviewed by the researcher.


c) Age Groups

According to the findings, (1.4 %) of the respondents fall within 10 and below age

bracket while only (6.6%) are above 40 years of age. This compares with the

respondents of 19-25 years age bracket was represented by (14.7 %) of them with the

majority; (14.7%) falling within 19-25 years as shown in Table 5 below.

Age Frequency Percentage (%)

10 and below 2 1.4

11-15 18 12.0

16-18 22 14.7

19-25 30 20.0

26-30 32 21.3

31-35 26 17.4

36-40 10 6.6

40 and above 10 6.6

Total 150 100


d) Respondent’s Education

The table below shows the scores of education level of Sudanese refugee resettled at

Dzaipi refugee transit centre, the majority being refugee children with school ages of

pre-school with (25.4% male and 35.3% female) and primary level with (35.4% male and

32.4% female) as the highest age groups who need to access basic education. The same

table scored refugees who attained Degree level being the least with (5.1% male and

2.8% female) indicating they might be people who were working in South Sudan before

the break out of conflict which forced massive population out of their country into


Northern part of Uganda where they currently are resettled at Dzaipi refugee transit

centre.

Education

Level

Category of Respondents

Male Percentage

(%)

Female

Percentage

(%)

Pre- School 20 25.4 25 35.3

Primary 28 35.4 23 32.4

Secondary 12 15.1 11 15.5

Diploma 15 19.0 10 14.0

Degree 4 5.1 2 2.8

Total 79 100 71 100


e) Religion of the Respondents

Table 7 below gives a summary of the religion of the respondents.

Religion of the Respondents Frequency Percentage (%)

Catholic 40 26.7

Protestant 80 53.3

Muslim 10 6.7

Others 20 13.3

Total 150 100


The scores above have shown the majority of the respondents (53.3%) reported Protestant as the

religion, (26.7%) were Catholics while Muslims constituted (6.7%). All other beliefs constituted

(13.3%). With reference to the above scores the Protestants are the majority.


f) Occupation of the Respondents

The table below has indicated scores of occupation categories of the respondents.

Occupation Frequency Percentage (%)

Self Employed 65 43.3

Public Employed 25 16.7

Not Employed 60 40.0

Total 150 100


The above scores indicated that refugees who are self employed to be the majority

with (43.3%), followed by those not employed with (40%) and those working with

public organizations being (16.7%) meaning that refugees resettled at Dzaipi refugee

transit centre are those not employed at all and are surviving at the mercy of any

humanitarian agencies, international communities, NGOs and host government

agencies to access livelihood support service including shelter provision.

g) Respondents experience provision and access of emergency shelter

The tables below present the summary scores on experience of refugees on provision

of emergency shelter.

Refugees with tents

and tarpaulins

Frequency Percentage

(%)

Widows 18 18

Widowers 17 17

Child headed

households

40 40



Total 100 100

(Table 9) Source: secondary data

According to the above presentation, refugees who are from child headed

households are the ones registered as the highest on the emergency shelter supply

list from humanitarian agencies with (40%) scores of receipt of tents and tarpaulins

while the widows and widowers shown to be the lowest on distribution list of

shelter materials particularly to widowers with (17%) followed by widows with

(18%) accordingly as recorded in above table.

Refugees without

tents and tarpaulins

Frequency Percentage

(%)

Widows 30 30

Widowers 40 40

Child headed

households

15 15


Total 100 100

(Table 10) Source: secondary data

According to the above presentation, refugees who are widows with (30%) and

widowers with (40%) scored as those receiving very little support to access

emergency shelter during distribution from humanitarian agencies at Dzaipi refugee

transit centre.

A quote by one of them, “Ever since I came here my sleeping place has always been under

the varandah of people’s houses; I wish I had a son who would look after me! My staying here

is adding me more problems and suffering. Wonder when I will back to my home country!”


The quotes gives impression that the plight of many single headed households who

are in the category of underserved refugees within the Dzaipi transit centre calls for

concerted efforts of humanitarian agencies operating in refugee and internally

displaced peoples (IDPs) camps in Northern Uganda.

ii) Resettlement process

Once in Uganda, the refugees have to be registered by the U.N. refugee agency before

they can be moved to settlement camps where they can build homes, grow their own

food, sell the surplus and become self-sufficient. Officials from the UN refugee agency,

the UNHCR, are being very methodical about registering the South Sudanese who are

crossing into Uganda at a rate of around 3,000 a day. The situation at Dzaipi transit

centre remains dire with serious overcrowding and a critical lack of shelter, water and

sanitation, medical supplies and shelter. A new transit centre is being established at

nearby Nyunanzi where shelter construction began in March, 2014.

At Dzaipi transit centre in Adjumani district, the researcher found out there are

thousands of children running about, tents full of pregnant women, young mothers and

newborn babies including elderly women resting against trees. Men were hardly seen.

Asking one lady who looked helpless replied, “I last saw my husband before I left Sudan; I

don’t know his where about whether he is alive or dead. What I want is to go back home and look

for away to feed my children than sitting here doing nothing most of the time living in small

prison”.


The majority of arrivals registered are less than 17 years of age especially; at Elega

border point a collection centre has been established from where trucks are transporting

refugees to Dzaipi transit centre. The Danish Refugee Council – Danish Demining

Group (DRC-DDG) has constructed two communal shelters at the collection point so far

and three at Dzaipi transit centre where construction of three more is ongoing.

Office of the Prime Minister, Republic of Uganda has acquired a plot of land to set up a

reception centre at Nyunanzi in Adjumani District for which a UNHCR site planner has

developed a layout plan. The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) is tasked to construct

20 communal shelters there as well as latrines and bathing shelters and will also truck

water daily to the site. LWF is also looking into drilling a borehole as a long-term

solution.

All registered refugees at transit and reception centres have access to World Food

Program (WFP) food rations, including hot meals. Adjumani District connected water

from the gravity flow system to Dzaipi primary school which is serving as an annex to

the transit centre and accommodating thousands of refugees.

According to government data, there are now 46,579 South Sudanese refugees in

Uganda. In Uganda, there is still serious overcrowding at the Dzaipi transit centre in

Adjumani district in the country's north; all registered refugees are relocated to the

settlements around Adjumani where they are given basic relief items including

blankets, mats, cooking equipment, jerry cans and materials such as tents, tarpaulins,


poles and ropes to construct houses. They are also given small plots of land on which to

build their houses.

iii) Emergency Shelter Provision

With over 50,000 South Sudanese nationals having taken refuge in Uganda since war

broke out in Southern Sudan in December, 2013 Save the Children has initiated a

response that will focus on the protection of children, reunification of separated

children and unaccompanied minors, the distribution of non-food items such as tents

and tarpaulins and hygiene and sanitation by constructing toilets, digging rubbish pits

and maintenance of water points to keep it clean for users.

Below is a quote from one of the top managers, “We will distribute non-food items that

include plastic sheeting for tents, mosquito nets, warm clothing for children and shoes,” says

Topher Mugumya, the Emergency, Communications and Security Director at Save the

Children.

iv) Challenges and Problems

From 15th December 2013 to date, the West Nile region has received over 53,000 South

Sudanese refugees. Over 43,945 of these are in Adjumani district while Arua district is

host to over 8,627 refugees. The refugees are being received at Dzaipi transit

centre/primary school in Adjumani District, Ocea reception centre in Arua district as

well as Kiryandongo refugee settlement in Masindi district.


The rapid surge in numbers has severely overwhelmed the social service delivery

capacity of the host districts. In Dzaipi, latrine coverage is estimated at 1:1,230 as

opposed to the standard of 1:50. The ratio of bath shelters is at 1:1,500 versus the

recommended 1:50. Water, too, is scarce, with each person receiving 4.7 litres as

opposed to 15 litres for each person per day.

The majority of the refugees sleep in the open or under trees due to a shortage of

material for construction of housing. Many of them, including children, sleep without

mosquito nets and beddings.

According to extract from the joint field assessment mission carried out last March, 2014

the urgent needs to be addressed as:-

Relocation exercise hampered by lack of adequate nonfood items in Pakelle in

Adjumani district.

Records of entries already made project about 70% of the population of new arrivals

to be women and children raising protection concerns. These concerns are real when

viewed against the background of poor lighting around the entire reception centre

now transit centre and its surrounding environments that are all covered with newly

arrived refugees. The fact that the entire Dzaipi transit centre has six (6) temporary

shelters and three (3) permanently built shelters with 14 classrooms at the

neighboring Dzaipi primary school to house 23,000 refugees the extent of protection

challenges for women and children become clearly manifestly clear.


The number of medical staff remains low and drugs are insufficient at the Dzaipi

center and cannot serve the population of refugees besides the local population.

Critical need to step up immunization as the influx escalates

Sensitization of the host populace on some neglected diseases like, sleeping

sickness, polio and conditions like guinea worm that are still active in South Sudan.

Sensitization of proper hygiene to the refugee population since they are defecating

all over the place.

v) Community Response

As much the new arrivals of Sudanese refugees are being transferred to settlements,

there is need to have a strategy to provide poles and ropes (construction materials) to

the refugees who are being resettled. However, the local population contend that the

previous promise allegedly made by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

(NHCR) in early January, 2014 to support the community where the refugees are hosted

with re-forestation in Adjumani has never bore fruit. This is one of the issues making

mobilizing for community support to provide poles and ropes required for the

reconstruction of houses of the refugees resettled in Dzaipi transit camp not successful.

Recommendations

With reflection on this study report, the researcher would like to make the following

recommendations for future action planning to improve on the existing humanitarian

operations in West Nile region, Northern Uganda:-


It is mandatory for humanitarian and government agencies to put in place

emergency preparedness system where isolated areas within the settlements being

identified for burial grounds of refugees who might have died or lost a relative

during settlement in Uganda.

Construction of additional shelters for accommodation of the arriving influx of

Sudanese refugees of about 2,000 – 2,500 at daily average.

Construction of many refuge pits to manage garbage and solid wastes that litter

settlement areas which become breeding place for bacteria leading to increased

incidence of outbreak of communicable diseases.

Provision of sensitization of the new arriving influx on hygiene practices.

Construction of additional latrines to meet the minimum standards.

Installation of additional water storage capacity to keep water available to camp

settlers all times.

Conclusion

Emergency shelter programming to meet the growing demand of refugee settlers for

transitional shelter like tents and tarpaulins and reconstruction materials such as poles

and ropes given top priority in any humanitarian interventions to address shelter needs

of refugee populations located in any refugee camps and settlement sites.

MIHA Module 4 Assignment

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Transcript of MIHA Module 4 Assignment