GHI Celebrates World Refugee Day

POST BY BAILEY ADAMS // PUBLISHED JUNE 2017

The number of refugees around the world is at a record high. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that there are 21.3 million refugees globally over 65.3 million forcibly displaced people. Conflict and persecution forces an average of 33,972 persons per day (or 24 people per minute!) to leave their homes in search of protection elsewhere.

Each year on June 20 the United Nations, United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and countless organizations celebrate World Refugee Day in order to draw the public's attention to the millions of refugees and internally displaced persons worldwide who have been forced to flee their homes.

At Gardens for Health, we commemorate the strength, courage and perseverance of the millions of refugees worldwide and the thousands of refugees in Rwanda. As an organization, we are committed to reaching the most vulnerable populations, and we recognize that refugees face the greatest constraints of any population towards achieving balanced nutrition.

Refugees in Rwanda:

In Rwanda, reignited conflict in Burundi and ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are significant sources of refugees. Rwanda currently hosts 73,357 refugees from the DRC and 85,895 from Burundi.

From 1996, Rwanda has hosted a number of Congolese refugees who fled in the 1990s, as well as more recent arrivals who fled to Rwanda during the 2012-2013 renewed hostilities in eastern DRC. And as a result of election-related tensions in neighboring Burundi, Rwanda has also opened its border to host thousands of Burundian refugees who have fled the country since April 2015.

In just a few years Mahama Refugee Camp has already become the largest camp in Rwanda. Home to over 50,000 Burundian refugees, Mahama has surpassed the five other camps in Rwanda. It is already bigger than the two largest Congolese camps—Kigeme hosting 19,000 and Kiziba home to 17,300—combined.

GHI and Refugees:

We are excited to announce that we are a new official operating partner of UNHCR and MIDIMAR (the Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs) in Rwanda! Under this new partnership, we will be expanding our programming to Rwandan refugee camps, working closely with refugee populations in Mahama and Kigeme camps.

At GHI, we have seen our model working for the most financially and land constrained rural families in Rwanda. For that reason we have been seeking opportunities to expand our work to refugee populations. Our model is based on the idea that the information we provide can be absorbed and utilized by any individual - regardless of their educational background or the resources on hand.

Food assistance quality in refugee camps is traditionally poor, and often fails to meet all of the nutritional needs of vulnerable populations. For years, camp residents have been subsisting in large part on food aid. Our model focuses on providing families with the ability to supplement their existing diet with nutritious foods. We simultaneously supply them with information about which foods to purchase or grow and how to prepare balanced meals with very limited time, water, and fuel resources.

Over the next months and coming years, we plan to introduce our proven model of integrated health behavior change and nutrition-sensitive agriculture interventions to refugees, adapted to the camp setting.

Future projects will focus on addressing a lack of sustainable solutions to malnutrition; the legacy of inadequate food aid in camps; a lack of appropriate nutrition counseling to prevent future malnutrition; and a lack of nutrition-sensitive agriculture interventions.

This approach reflects GHI’s integrated and comprehensive strategy to address the underlying causes of malnutrition, breaking down multiple constraints for families so that they can access nutritious foods over the long-term. Empowering individuals to make informed choices about how to maximize nutritious food production and consumption will both enable and energize them to achieve positive health outcomes.

This World Refugee Day, join us in celebrating our new partnerships with UNCHR and MIDIMAR. These relationships will allow us to not only support refugees today, but for each day going forward.

Kinyarwanda: 

Umubare w’impunzi kwisi urabarirwa hejuru. Ibiro bya UNHCR birantangaza ko hashobora kuba hari impunzi zibarirwa muri milliyoni 21 n’ibihumbi magana tatu kwisi hose kandi million 65 n’ibihumbi magana tatu n’abavanywe mu byabo kungufu. Abagera kuri 33,972 bahunga igihugu cyabo bitewe n’ amakimbirane cyangwa ubushinja cyaha, bakajya gushakira ubuhungiro mu bindi bihugu.

Buri tariki ya 20 Kamena umuryango wa bibumbye (ONU), UNHCR, nibindi bihugu bitabarika bizihiza Umunsi mpuza mahanga w’ impunzi kugirango bagaragaze amamiliyoni y’ abantu bakuwe mu byabo kungufu bakaba bari mu bihugu bitandukanye.

M’ umurima w’ ubuzima, tuzirikana imbaraga, umuhati, no kwihangana by’ amamiliyoni y’ impunzi kwisi hose n’ ibihumbi byinshi by’ impunzi mu Rwanda.

Nk’ umushinga, turajwe ishinga no kugera kuri ya miryango itagira kirengera kandi twibuka ko impunzi zihura n’ imbogamizi nyinshi kurusha abandi kubijyanye no kurya indyo yuzuye.=

Impunzi mu Rwanda:

Mu Rwanda, umuriro wongeye kuvuka mu gihugu cy’uburundi hamwe n’amacakubiri ya komeje kuba mugihugu cya Congo ni zo ntandaro z’impunzi. Ubu urwanda rucumbikiye impunzi zigera kuri 73,357 zaturutse muri Repubulika iharanira Demokarasi ya Congo hamwe nizindi zibarirwa kuri 85,895 zaturtuse mu gihugu cy’uburundi.

Guhera mu mwaka wa 1996, urwanda rwakiriye impinzi z’abakongomani zari zarahunze mu mwaka wa 1990s hamwe nizindi zahunze hagati yu mwaka wa 2012 na 2013 bitewe n’ ibikorwa by’ ubugizi bwa nabi bwaberaga mu burasira zuba bwa Congo. Nanone, bitewe n’imvururu z’amatora yabereye mugihugu cy’abaturanyi cy’uburundi, urwanda rwafunguye imipaka yarwo rwakira impunzi ibihumbi by’abarundi guhere mu kwezi kwa Mata 2015.

Mu myaka mike gusa inkambi ya Mahama yihese ihinduka inkambi nini mu Rwanda. Icumbikiye impunzi z’abarundi zirenga 50,000. Inkambi ya Mahama yahise iruta izindi nkambi nini eshanu zibarizwa mu Rwanda. Inkambi ya Mahama ni nini kurusha inkambi ebyiri z’abakongoman nini mu Rwanda harimo inkambi ya Kigeme icumbikiye impunzi zigera kuri 19,000 hamwe n’inkambi ya Kiziba icumbikiye impunzi zigera kuri 17,300- zihurije hamwe.

GHI hamwe n’impunzi

Twishimiye kubamenyesha ko ubu dufitanye imikoranire mishya hamwe na UNHCR hamwe na MIDIMAR (Ministere ishinzwe gukumira Ibiza n’impunzi) mu Rwanda! Muri iyi mikoranire, tuzagura ibikorwa byacu mu nkambi zitandukanye mu Rwanda, dukorana n’impunzi zo mu nkambi ya Mahama na Kigeme mu buryo bwa hafi cyane.

Muri GHI, twasanze imikorere yacu ifasha gukemura ibibazo by’amafaranga n’ubutaka ahantu ho mu byaro mu Rwanda. Ari nayo mpamvu twashatse kwagura ibikorwa byacu dukorana n’impunzi. Imikorere yacu ishingiye ku kuba dutanga inyigisho, zikakirwa kandi zikanakoreshwa hatitawe kungano y’amashuri cyangwa se umutungo ufite mu biganza byawe.

Ubuziranenge bw’ ibiryo bihabwa impunzi mu nkambi buracyari hasi, rimwe na rimwe ntabwo bishobora gukemura ikibazo cyimirire kuri iyi miryango ibabaye. Mu myaka ishize, impunzi munkambi zahabwaga imfashanyo yibyo kurya gusa. Imikorere yacu ishingiye kuguha imiryango ubushobozi bwo kuba bakwunganira ibiryo basanzwe bafite babona ibiryo bifite intunga mubiri ihagije. Duhita tubaha n’amakuru ajyanye n’ibiryo bagomba guhaha cyangwa se guhinga n’uburyo bwo gutegura infunguro rigizwe n’indyo yuzuye mu gihe gito, hakoreshejwe amazi make, ndetse n’ibicanishwa bike.

Mu mezi ari imbere ndetse n’imyaka izaza, turateganya gutangiza gahunda yacu ivuguruye ishingiye kuguhuza ubuzima bwiza n’imirire myiza hifashishijwe ubuhinzi mu nkambi z’impunzi. Ikazashirwa mu bikorwa hagendewe n’imitere y’inkambi.

Imishinga itaha izibanda mu gukemura ibura ry’ibisubizo birambye ku kibazo cy’imirire mibi, imfashanyo y’ibiryo idahagije mu nkambi, inama zidahagije kubijyanye no kwirinda imirire mibi mu gihe kizaza, n’ imyifashishireze mike y’ubuhinzi mu kurwanya ikibazo cy’imirire mibi.

Ubu buryo bwerekana uburyo GHI ishira mubikorwa ingamba zisobanutse mu gukemura intandaro z’imirire mibi, kugabanya imbogamizi z’imiryango myinshi kugirango babone uburyo bazihaza mu biribwa mu gihe kirekire. Kongerera abantu ubushobozi ku kuba bafata ibyemezo bijyanye no kwihaza mu biribwa n’uburyo bategura ibyo kurya byombi bizatuma bagera ku buzima bwiza.

Kuri uyu munsi mpuza mahanga w’impunzi, ushobora kutwiyungaho ubwo twishimira imikoranire misha hagati yacu na UNHCR an MIDIMAR. Uyu mubano uzadufasha gufasha impunzi Atari ubu gusa, ahubwo buri munsi.