Vulnerability, resilience, and integration of elderly South Sudanese refugees in Uganda: A Case study of Pagirinya settlement in Adjumani district.

Abstract

This policy brief is based on the research project financed as part of a grant from the Flemish Interuniversity council (VLIRUOS) under the broad theme: “Making Refugee Integration Sustainable: In Search of Durable Relations with Host Populations In Uganda”. This is a collaborative research project between the Department of Planning and Governance, Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST), Uganda and the Institute of Development Policy (IOB), University of Antwerp, Belgium. Researchers involved in the project conducted research under different topics that fall within the wider research theme that aimed to establish a durable relationship between hosts and refugees as essential ingredient to guarantee the social and political stability of countries and regions hosting refugees. It is well-known that Uganda is the highest refugee hosting country in Africa and one of the largest refugee hosting countries globally, hosting about 1,722,378 refugees by 31st July 2024 (Office of the Prime Minister [OPM] & UNHCR 2024). The project envisions making a contribution that will help in better understanding and facilitation of policy interventions that can ameliorate social relations between hosts and refugees, and the findings are translated to policy makers through participation in different policy platforms. Therefore, this particular policy brief aims to bring to light the conditions of one of the neglected groups of refugees - elderly refugees. It analyses the vulnerability of elderly refugees and identifies areas of resilience and opportunities for integrating them in the host societies.