Despite improvements in access to services refugees remain dependent on humanitarian assistance, and some have developed negative coping mechanisms to deal with insecurity and limited resources. Refugees possess uneven capacities and power to participate in decision making due to age, gender and diversity (AGD) related barriers.
Achievements in 2018 and activities in 2019 will lay the foundations for greater refugee empowerment in (i) community-led solutions and advocacy; and (ii) AGD mainstreamed community mobilisation, civic engagement and representation.
In line with the Office’s community-based protection strategy in 2019 Community Outreach Members (COM) will gradually transition from uniquely conducting mass outreach campaigns to engaging in the identification of refugees at heightened risks and providing case-management support, initially in the areas of sexual and gender based violence and mental health and psychosocial support. Consolidated teams of 21 COMs will focus on community asset mapping, networking with traditional and emerging refugee groups and capacitating them to conduct their own activities. By 2020 the COMs will train and share tools with self-organised ‘civil society’ entities on protection and humanitarian principles, gender, peaceful co-existence and communication skills. This will prepare refugees to lead activities (at information points and integrated Community Centres) which will contribute to longer-term community mobilisation and civic engagement.
In line with placing the community at the centre of the response, multifunctional refugee response teams comprising of Safety Unit and Cyclone Preparedness Programme Volunteers, Community Health Workers, Community Psychosocial Volunteers and COMs, will be established to reinforce the response to climactic disasters. This is especially the case if humanitarian access is compromised.
In 2019 and 2020 UNHCR will also redouble efforts to strengthen community representation, although progress will depend on Government endorsement of camp-wide elections.
Self-management committees for WASH, Health, Shelter, night watch, mediation and community-based dispute resolution mechanisms will be established, while representatives from across the community will be encouraged to support elected camp committees. A strategic partnership with the Common Service will ensure the community has independent access to information through diversified mass dissemination channels.
In 2020 community based protection (CBP) will endeavour to build social cohesion and peaceful co-existence between refugees and host communities through its existing activities, focusing on common priorities such as youth, environment and interests such as religious discourse. The community response in the latter shall entail establishing an Integrated Multi sectoral Community Centre catering to the community’s legal, psychosocial, information and engagement needs.
UNHCR’s transition from working with partners and CBP on stand-alone initiatives, to mainstreaming CBP across sectors and constructively engaging emerging influencers is intended to promote sustainability. With available resources, UNHCR plans to maintain partnerships; rationalising the scale of activities in 22 camps with the aim of addressing 70,000 complaints received from complaints mechanisms, building the capacity of 450 COMs to phase into their new roles, support 66 community groups to complete one service project monthly, and establish 16 camp committees in UNHCR-managed sites. In the face of other contingencies, e.g., extreme weather and site improvement works affecting community centres and information points, Common Service and host community activities will be deprioritised in favour of reconstructing community spaces for refugees to gather, seek information and safely raise complaints.