BY ASHENAFI ANIMUT
ADDIS ABABA- The significant stride Ethiopia has been trekking towards fulfilling the interests of refugees and host communities is promising, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said.
Speaking to The Ethiopian Herald,UNHCR Senior Policy Adviser Perveen Ali stated that Ethiopia remains committed to delivering on unmet commitments with the support of the international community in the spirit of burden and responsibility sharing.
“In spite of many challenges related to the pandemic, climate change and conflict, the country has made remarkable efforts in the areas of jobs and livelihoods, vocational training, clean energy, asylum and protection capacity, and birth registration, among others.”
As it is one of the countries where the Global Compact on Refugees was first brought to life through the comprehensive refugee response framework, Ethiopia has yielded a tangible outcome via the adoption of the refugees’ proclamation no. 1110/2019, she elaborated.
“The favorable legal and policy inclusion has also made further investments possible in concrete development initiatives to support the realization of its pledges.”
It was also indicated that till June 3, 2023, Ethiopia hosted close to one million refugees and asylum seekers mainly from South Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea, and Sudan.
The advisor also recommended strengthening the coordination and collaboration among all stakeholders, the government, UN agencies, NGOs, donors, private sector, civil society, including the host communities to ensure a coherent and comprehensive approach to the refugee.
“In line with its 10-year perspective plan with a target the Global Compact for Refugees (GCR) of halving poverty and doubling per capita GDP, Ethiopia has been a great example of demonstrating concrete, quantifiable and high-impact pledges on the economic inclusion of refugees.”
She further highlighted that the government has also collaborated with the international community and various partners to implement a lot of development-oriented interventions in the agriculture and livestock sectors that have directly benefitted 129,449 refugees and host community households in different regions of the country.
Alongside this, over 2.6 million seedlings were planted to restore degraded lands, to maintain environmental conservation and rehabilitation in refugee hosting areas. Also, some 382,000 refugees and 85,000 host communities have access to alternative energy solutions, it was learned.
The Ethiopian Herald 18 June 2023
