822 Burundians refugees and 221 Rwandan refugees have been voluntarily repatriated to their countries of origin from North Kivu province in April 2021.

UNHCR team have biometrically registered over 70,000 Central African refugees who fled violence in the Central African republic to seek safety in the DRC. This will improve their security and provide them with access to essential services.

RAVES PROJECT - KENYA LAUNCH: Official launch of the Refugee Agricultural Value chains for Economic Self-reliance (RAVES) Programme. FAO with funding from the IKEA Foundation and in collaboration with the Turkana County Government, UNHCR, WFP, IFC, INSTA Products, Egerton University and other stakeholders has initiated a project aimed at enabling farmers from Loima and Turkana West Sub-Counties of Turkana County as well as refugees in Kalobeyei settlement to produce groundnut for INSTA Products in a Public Private Partnership. The four-year project is targeting 1,500 farmers, of which 30 percent are refugees, farming on approximately 750 acres and ultimately delivering 1,200 tons of Groundnuts per year. The project is expected to bring in KES 96 million annually to Turkana County and spur the development of a groundnut industry in the County.

Towards Refugees’ Self-Reliance And Inclusion: IGAD Holds Its 1st Regional Expert Meeting On The Kampala Declaration The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) held its first Regional Technical Experts’ meeting in April 2021, as part of IGAD’s support platform launched at the 2019 Global Refugee Forum. The virtual meeting was organized to discuss progress made by member states commitment on the Kampala Declaration on jobs, livelihood, and self-reliance for refugees, returnees, and host communities and to showcase progress on key Global Refugee Forum commitments. The meeting brought together nearly 100 experts from Member States, regional and international partners who have reiterated their commitment to implement the Kampala Declaration and to continue the inclusion of refugees into their national systems. The outcomes of the discussion will feed into upcoming planned national consultations, IGAD ministerial meeting and the Summit on the Nairobi Declaration and the regional stock-taking report for the Global Refugee Forum (GRF) 2021. For further details pls consult IGAD’s website: https://igad.int/divisions/health-and-social-development/2016-05-24-03-16-37/2689-towards-refugees-self-reliance-and-inclusion-igad-holds-its-1st-regional-expert-meeting-on-the-kampala-declaration

M. Abdouraouf Gnon-Kondé, Représentant du HCR au Burkina Faso, a présenté ce matin sa lettre de créance à S.E.M. Alpha Barry , Ministre des affaires étrangères, de la coopération, de l’inclusion africain et des Burkinabes de l’Extérieur. Cette réunion a été l’occasion pour le Ministre Alpha Barry d’exprimer sa profonde gratitude pour la collaboration avec le HCR et pour de la visite au BF en février 2020, du Haut-commissaire des Nations Unies pour les Réfugiés Filippo Grandi , qui a permis de mettre plus de lumière à la crise des déplacements forcés au Burkina Faso.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, welcomes the launch today of a country-wide campaign in Pakistan to verify and update the data of some 1.4 million registered Afghan refugees and to issue them with smart identity cards. The last large-scale verification of refugees in the country was undertaken 10 years ago. Registered refugees will be issued new smartcards with the capacity to hold biometric data. These cards, which will be valid for two years, will also be technologically compatible with systems used in Pakistan to authenticate the identities of nationals to access services.

ISLAMABAD, 15 April 2021 – The Government of Pakistan, with the support of UNHCR, has launched a nationwide verification exercise for 1.4 million Afghan refugees during which new smartcards will be issued. The Documentation Renewal and Information Verification Exercise, or DRIVE for short, was inaugurated at a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Islamabad by the Federal Minister for SAFRON, His Excellency Mehboob Sultan. The UNHCR Representative, Noriko Yoshida, and the Chief Commissioner for Afghan Refugees, Saleem Khan, were also present on the occasion. During the six-month exercise, registered Afghan refugees who currently hold Proof of Registration (PoR) cards will be provided with new smartcards.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect refugees and host communities in the Islamic Republic of Iran, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is ensuring that another 20,000 refugees can access national health insurance, taking the numbers assisted with health insurance to 120,000. UNHCR covered the costs of insurance for some 100,000 vulnerable refugees last year. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic and the prevailing economic downturn in Iran increasing vulnerabilities amongst refugees, UNHCR has agreed to temporarily increase the number of refugees covered by the scheme. UNHCR is concerned that fewer and fewer refugees will be able to afford the cost of health insurance in 2021 and beyond, increasing the likelihood that they will not seek treatment for their urgent health needs or that they will resort to borrowing money or sending their children to work, just to be able to afford health care.

255 Rwandan refugees (104 households) were repatriated in safety and dignity to Rwanda in March 2021.

26,409 Congolese were forced to flee the attacks of non-state armed groups in the territory of Irumu (Ituri Province) in March, bringing the total number of people displaced in the area in 2021 to 44,625.