Africa's Great Lakes region mulls integration for displaced people

Six African countries from the Great Lakes region which hosts 3.4 million displaced people have resolved to embrace local integration as a solution to displacement.

Government delegations from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia met in the Kenyan capital Nairobi to share experience on ways to promote local integration as a solution for displaced people.

"One durable solution to addressing protracted displacement is local integration in communities and countries of asylum," said a joint statement issued on Wednesday at the end of the workshop.

In the Great Lakes Region of Africa, the number of displaced people is rising and some people have remained displaced for close to 20 years. .

During the meeting, World Bank Kenya Country Director, Diarietou Gaye, said the Great Lakes region has some of the most advanced examples of inclusive approaches to displaced people in the world.

Said Djinnit, Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for the Great Lakes region, emphasized the importance of addressing root causes of displacement and finding durable solutions to this problem.

Djinnit called on the regional governments and all partners to take a serious look at finding more regional, innovative and durable solutions to displacement in the Great Lakes region.

During the meeting, the six governments recognized that local integration can yield many benefits for refugees, internally displaced persons and the host countries, however they equally noted the legal, political and financial challenges in implementing local integration in practice. Endit