FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR When I was joining IRRI in the first quarter of 2019, I could not have imagined the dynamism and shifts we would experience by the end of 2019. We changed. Simply put. At the milestone of 15 years, we determined that we needed to re- strategise and rethink IRRI, and what…
We believe that peace is a right that should be enjoyed by everyone, and that efforts at consolidating peace can ultimately contribute to “recovering better for an equitable and sustainable world”, especially amidst the global COVID-19 Pandemic. While refugees in Uganda have experienced some level of harmonious relations, with different ethnicities co-existing alongside host communities,…
We, at International Refugee Rights Initiative (IRRI), stand united with displaced and stateless persons. We believe that no one should be left behind, particularly in times of great hardship such as those currently being experienced around the world due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Especially in resource-poor contexts, displaced and stateless persons struggle to access the…
Introduction After decades of conflict and violence, the Great Lakes region of Africa remains one of the areas of the world most affected by forced displacement. Currently, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Central African Republic (CAR), Burundi and South Sudan are among the global top ten countries of origin of refugees, but every…
People seeking safety are trapped at borders across Eastern Africa due to COVID-19 measures A coalition of international, national, and refugee-led organizations in the Horn, East and Central Africa (HECA) have today called on governments in the region to reopen borders for asylum seekers. The organisations are calling on governments to put in place measures…
Joint civil society statement Ahead of the African Union (AU) High-Level Dialogue on displacement taking place from 4-6 December in Uganda, 15 African and international NGOs call on African leaders and regional organisations to urge the government of Tanzania to stop pressuring 163,000 refugees and asylum seekers into returning to Burundi, where there are…
H.E Solomon Dersso, Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights CC: Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Chairman of the African Union Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Commission Smail Chergui, Commissioner for Peace and Security of the African Union Commission Banjul, The Gambia, 25 October 2019 Your Excellency, We, a coalition…
This video (watch below) is a summary of the findings in our report “Understanding conflict dynamics around refugee settlements in northern Uganda” launched recently in Kampala in August 2019. Between December 2018 and May 2019, the International Refugee Rights Initiative (IRRI) undertook a study in Adjumani, Arua and Lamwo districts in northern Uganda to understand…
Ahead of the 42nd regular session of the UN Human Rights Council, 17 civil society organisations have urged the Council to take action to address serious human rights violations and abuses that have been and continue to be committed in Sudan, and to support systemic reforms in the country. Noting that the Council has not…
[Kampala, 20 June 2019]: On the occasion of World Refugee Day, 16 non-governmental organisations call for urgent action to prevent and mitigate the impact of environmental degradation around refugee settlements in Uganda. Uganda currently hosts more than 1.25 million refugees, most of whom rely on natural resources in and around refugee settlements for domestic fuel, construction…
© Picture accessed via msn news The International Refugee Rights Initiative (IRRI) together with 30 other civil society organisations from all over the world have appealed to the UN Security Council for urgent action to prevent further violence in Sudan and support the people’s efforts for democratic change. In a letter to the UN Security…
11 June 2019 Excellency, We, the undersigned human rights organizations, are writing to urge you to support the adoption of a resolution at the upcoming 41st session of the UN Human Rights Council (“Council”) to maintain a monitoring and reporting mandate on the human rights situation in Eritrea. The human rights situation in Eritrea remains…
[6 June 2019] The attack on peaceful democracy protesters in Khartoum that began on June 3 that has reportedly seen the killing of at least 100 people and hundreds more injured demands a strong international response to immediately stop such attacks and ensure accountability for this and other violence in response to peaceful protests. At…
As a coalition of 16 international and regional civil society organizations, we are writing to seek your urgent support in addressing the precarious situation in South Sudan. Delays in implementation of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS) and the recent six-month extension of the…
29 April 2019 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Excellencies, Representatives of the AU Peace and Security Council Member States, H.E. Chairperson Mr. Moussa Faki, African Union Commission, Your Excellencies, We, the undersigned Sudanese and African civil society organizations write to urge the African Union to take a strong stand with the people of Sudan, demanding an expeditious…
Statement to the Ministerial Conference on the Eradication of Statelessness in the Great Lakes Region, 16-18 April 2019 (18 April 2019 Nairobi, Kenya) Your Excellencies, Honourable Ministers and Principle Secretaries, Ambassadors and Plenipotentiaries, Head of Division for Humanitarian Affairs of the African Union Commission, Director of the Africa Bureau of the UNHCR, Special Envoy for the…
(12 April 2019, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) We, the undersigned Sudanese and African civil society organizations write with deep concern about the military takeover in Sudan on 11 April 2019. The recent announcement of a military transitional council headed by Awad ibn Auf, the former vice president and minister of defense under Bashir’s regime, however, represents an…
(10 April 2019) What has happened in Sudan since 6 April can leave no doubt as to the seriousness of the Sudanese people to dismiss a regime that has remained in power for 30 years through its dependence on the tools of dictatorship, kleptocracy, patronage, fear and wide-scale human rights abuse. Citizens in the hundreds…
6 February 2019 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Excellencies, Representatives of the AU Peace and Security Council Member States, H.E. Chairperson Mr. Moussa Faki, African Union Commission, Your Excellencies, We, the undersigned African civil society organisations, write with deep concern about the deterioration of the situation in Sudan. The combination of long term repression and economic mismanagement…