In Uganda, increasing environmental degradation in refugee hosting areas has become a major obstacle to effectively sustaining the refugee-hosting model. Environmental protection and restoration has increasingly become a priority.

The most visible and immediate impact of the environmental degradation is loss of forest cover and vegetation in refugee-hosting areas. The rapid growth of the refugee population in Uganda has led to a surge in demand for natural resources, including wood fuel, construction material along with an increase in demand for energy-saving stoves and alternative energy-saving techniques and practices. It is against this background that the Government of Uganda has prioritised a response plan to provide the much needed framework for integrated planning and implementation of environment related activities in refugee-hosting districts.

This EU project will be a direct, fully aligned and explicit development contribution to the implementation of the response plan. The overall objective of this project is to increase environmental protection and restoration, as well as to improve sustainable energy access. This should lead to an improvement in livelihoods and rights among displaced populations and their host communities in refugee hosting areas.

Main objectives

The project has the following specific objectives:

1. Environmental and natural resources are protected and restored and concerned population is sensitised and has adopted environmental-friendly practices.
2. Improved access to sufficient, healthier, sustainable and alternative sources of energy; increased capacity to construct and maintain these; decreased dependence on energy from unsustainable and unregulated sources for households; causes of conflicts between refugees and host communities are addressed.
3. Energy, environment and climate action programming, coordination and capacity is strengthened at local, district government and sub-county levels.

Contracts

Save the Children Netherland

EUR 6 000 000

Response to Increased Environmental Degradation and Promotion of Alternative Energy Sources in Refugee Hosting Districts

Uganda Biodiversity Trust Fund 

EUR 4 600 000 

CTR - Restoring and Conserving degraded fragile ecosystems for improved community livelihoods among the Refugee and Host Communities of West Nile Region and the mid- Albertine Rift

Action Fiche