TANZANIA

Context

Tanzania has a long history of welcoming refugees and asylum-seekers from neighbouring countries. The country currently hosts over 359,000 refugees among a total population of 53.4 million. For decades, Tanzania has shown exemplary leadership in supporting durable solutions for refugees in protracted situations, as when it granted citizenship in 2014 to over 168,000 refugees who fled Burundi in 1972. The objective of the application of the CRRF in Tanzania is to support the Government in meeting its commitments towards refugees and deliver on its recent pledges for enhanced protection (e.g. enhance refugees’ access to education and employment). The comprehensive response focuses on six thematic areas: reception and admission; emergency response; inclusion and self-reliance; local integration for new Tanzanians; third-country options through resettlement and solutions; and preconditions for voluntary repatriation into country of origin. The application of the CRRF in Tanzania builds on existing mechanisms and initiatives (1998 Refugees Act and 2003 National Refugee Policy) with the aim of reviewing and updating them.

Key Needs

• • The roll-out of the CRRF is impacted by significant shortfalls in the funding of the Burundi emergency response. The 2017 financial requirements for the refugee response plan (RRP) in Tanzania amount to US$ 232.8 million, of which 20% is funded.
• • Donor support to area-based development programming and new sources of development financing for refugee-hosting regions. The main pillars of Tanzania’s current Five Year Development Plan (FYDP-II) is industrialization and human development. The plan also aims to strengthen the role of local actors in planning and implementation. Yet refugee-hosting regions are characterized by some of the highest levels of deprivation in the country and poor human development outcomes, therefore foreign investments in the regions need to align with national priorities.
• • Capacity towards a “whole-of-government” approach needs to be built and greater understanding for local government authorities to implement integrated programmes for the benefit of refugees and host communities alike needs to be fostered.

Existing Frameworks

The application of the CRRF in Tanzania builds on existing mechanisms and initiatives. The 1998 Refugees Act and the 2003 National Refugee Policy that govern Tanzania’s refugee policy are under review, providing an opportunity to move towards a settlement approach and towards the inclusion of refugees into national systems of service delivery, such as education and health.
Other mechanisms and initiatives that the CRRF builds on include the Refugee Coordination Model (RCM) for the humanitarian response and the UN Development Assistance Plan (UNDAP II) 2016-2021, which is based on national priorities and on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) centred on the SDG approach of 'leaving no one behind'. Government efforts on the local integration of new Tanzanians will feed into the CRRF, as will the United Nations Joint Programme (UNJP) for Kigoma Region in the Northwest, which fosters an inclusive approach in the support provided to host and refugee communities.
Kigoma Refugee Camps turned into schools, health centres

CRRF Partners

Under Development