Rwanda - Refugees and asylum-seekers (urban)

2020

Unmet needs in urban areas are significant given the limited resources. The impact of COIVD-19 on the urban population was substantial as indicated by the increased number of requests for relocation to camps due to higher cost of living in urban areas including rent and education fees. Effective community engagement and empowerment remained a challenge. The volunteer outreach network was very limited. The current composition of refugee committees and leaders do not reflect a balanced gender and/or other diversity considerations.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, refugee elections were not held in 2020 and were postponed to a later date in 2021. More capacity building sessions on the community-based approach are required, both for PoCs as well as other stakeholders. The services in the community centre in Kigali could not be fully utilized due to COVID-19 pandemic, as well high cost of transport/commute for PoCs to attend the classes/services.

In terms of support to the PoCs living with disabilities, while the assistive device has been provided to many PoCs in need, there remains additional needs including need for repair and replacement of some of the devices such as orthoses, compensatory shoes and wheelchairs for children with severe disabilities. More material and psychosocial support is needed for PoCs living with specific needs including children. Cost of commuting to rehabilitation services remains a challenge to vulnerable families.

Under reporting of SGBV and CP cases in urban settings continued to be a challenge. Lack of resources (including staffing and availability of vehicles to reach out to refugees in different locations) also hindered assistance. Further improvement could be made through enhanced coordination with the local authorities and Isange One Stop Centres (IOSCs) as well as information dissemination among refugees. Improved community-based protection mechanisms are required to support SGBV prevention activities. Close coordination and monitoring of SGBV prevention and response is needed to fill in the gaps in partners’ performance, monitoring of SGBV cases and data handling, etc. More engagement with refugees, especially refugees leaders, and partners is needed to enable them understand the SGBV programming as well as the role of legal service provider with regard to legal assistance, to facilitate in seeking justice for SGBV survivors and to ensure the respect of fair trial on the side of the alleged perpetrators.

COVID-19 further increased the number of challenges related to lack of access and communication between the partners and refugees as well as prevention and awareness raising activities. Covid-19 hindered most of the planned capacity building activities under SGBV and CP prevention, mitigation and response. Additional resources were required to implement activities in urban settings including increased staffing as well as livelihood activities to prevent negative coping mechanisms among refugee women and girls that also lead to consequences such as sexual exploitation and abuse. In general, facilitation of sustainable self-reliance through livelihood activities including skill-developing opportunities for adults and youth were limited.