REFUGEE Integration Program

UgIFT will support the integration of delivery of services to refugees and their host communities within the LG delivery system.

In doing so, UgIFT will support the transition from humanitarian financing to integrated financing of service delivery for refugees and their hosts together with services already managed by Local Government (LG).

Refugee hosting LGs are supported to develop integrated transition plans, which will combine sector financing from wage, non-wage recurrent, and development grants in health, education, and water with other funding sources, including complimentary World Bank operations and those from humanitarian actors.

This helps improve the effectiveness of combined resources supporting service delivery, reduce duplication and waste, and move the financing of service delivery onto a more sustainable footing. UgIFT financing for refugees underpins allocations to sector conditional grants in health, education and water and sanitation in refugee hosting local governments, which will increase significantly over the program period.

The integrated service delivery approach for refugee hosting LGs will be implemented initially in education, health and water supply as follows:

• In education: schools would be transitioned from being run by communities and humanitarian partners to being operated by Local Government. Simultaneously, existing government facilities that have the potential to serve additional host and refugee populations would be identified and expanded.
• In health: the transition from humanitarian partners to the Local Government transfer system would involve identifying the facilities that provide basic levels of care to refugees and hosting community and where necessary integrating them into the Local Government system. In addition, focus would be placed on strengthening health promotion through village health teams and other community change agents and strengthening the functioning of the referral system in HCIIIs, IVs and hospitals.
• Water Supply: The management of water supply services to refugees and their host communities would be mainstreamed. This means that services provided to refugees and host communities will be integrated into the Local Government system and support provided for the transition from service provision by humanitarian actors to local governments where appropriate.