UNHCR Forum, Cape Town

10.02.09 and 24.02.09

The UNHCR hosts regular meetings between different sets of NGO’s all devoted to the cause of aiding and assisting the refugees in South Africa. These meeting also featured discussions on the activities and challenges faced by the various task groups: Food Task Group, Income Generation Task Group and the Participatory Assessment Task Group. ADRO made a point during the discussions on the Food Task Group that there is still a great need of food in the Refugee camps in the Cape Town area. Even though the camps are officially closed, as many as 300 to 500 refugees remain in the camps. There was a profound debate about what needs more attention, the short term needs of the refugees or the long term needs. Food being a short term need. There was a general agreement that in the end it is more important to teach the refugees skills so that they will have the capacity to take care of themselves. Yet it would be hard for anyone to learn new skills on an empty stomach. It is important to concentrate on the long term needs of the refugees by concentrating on the tasks of the Income Generation Task Group, but the short term need of food is just as important, and is a fundamental human right. It’s important for all the NGO’s focusing on this area to work together to make the distribution of food as efficiently and effectively as possible.

A big part of this meeting focused on another task group focusing on creating a referral network. The referral network is organized by PAX, and they are in the process of organizing a database which will be comprised of all the relevant and up to date information from the various organizations involved in the forum, but will eventually spread out into other areas as well. If violence were to break out again, having a database consisting of all the interested parties, their contact details and their area of focus, will be a great benefit. The website would be made up of different section. The sections that are categorized are: Refugee rights, Health, Education, Skill's Training, Accommodation/Shelter, Social Welfare, Employment, Advocacy, Research, Legal, Protection, Conflict Resolution, Children, Women, and disabled.

The Department of Home Affairs was discussed as well. This department is creating a lot of problems for many refugees as they are taking their time processing the relevant documents. Many of the NGO’s have bad experiences concerning this department, so it was discussed in the meeting on the 10th of February that this forum invite the Department of Home Affairs to a special meeting where they can discuss the challenges the DHO is facing and figure out ways that the various NGO’s can assist the DHO in solving their challenges. This meeting could be a first step to creating a better relationship between the DHO and the various NGO’s. On the 24th of February it was announced that the meeting with the DHO would take place on the 3rd of March. ADRO will be attending that meeting.