Japan donates $1.5 million towards refugees integration

The Japanese government has given Zambia US$1.5million towards the local integration of former refugees into the Zambian society.

Speaking during the presentation of the cheque to Home Affairs Minister Davies Mwila this morning, Japanese Ambassador to Zambia Kiyoshi Koinuma says his government was pleased to be associated with efforts to find durable solutions to protracted refugee situations and to enhance the quality of life of refugees, former refugees and the host community.

Ambassador Koinuma says the contribution will be utilized for cash grants for food as well as business facilitation activities including skills training.

And speaking after receiving the cheque Home Affairs Minister Davies Mwila says government is overwhelmed with the support the Japanese government has been rendering over the years towards refugee programmes in Zambia.

Mr. Mwila says the donation is a clear commitment on the part of the Japanese government to contribute to the efforts of the Zambian government in improving the living conditions of not only refugees and former refugees, but also local people in the refugee settlements.

He points out that government with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees will put the funds to good use and ensure that they support a range of interventions including areas of food security, empowerment of women and communities and the rehabilitation of health and education infrastructure.

And UNHCR Representative Laura Lo Castro in a speech read on her behalf by UNHRC Senior Protection Officer Peter Janssen expressed profound thanks to the Government and people of Japan for their continued unwavering support to the UNHCR’ global operations in general and to the Zambia refugee programme in particular.

He also thanked the Government of Zambia for its decades long tradition of receiving and caring for refugees, and most recently its commitment to locally integrate Angolans and Rwandans whose refugee status has come to an end.

Mr Janssen noted that the Japanese Government has been supporting UNHCR’s work in Zambia since 2013, and that the financial contribution of US$ 1.5 million to support the Government of Zambia and UNHCR’s refugee and local integration operations is a clear demonstration of Japan’s commitment to the cause of refugees and the quest for solutions to their predicament.

He said UNHCR in Zambia requires an overall budget of US$21 million for the local integration programme.