Ethiopia’s recently launched Makatet Roadmap enters a debate that has defined refugee policy across Africa and the wider Global South for much of the past decade: governments have endorsed international commitments, revised national legislation and embraced more inclusive approaches to refugee protection, yet an important question has gradually emerged over how these commitments can be translated into practical and sustainable action.
Rather than introducing another refugee policy or replacing existing legal instruments, the Roadmap turns attention to a less visible challenge that has proved just as consequential: making existing commitments work in practice. In doing so, it offers an opportunity to reflect not only on Ethiopia’s evolving refugee governance but also on the broader transition from policy commitments to implementation governance.
Ethiopia's Refugee Policy Journey: Strong Laws, Weak Implementation
Ethiopia has progressively built a detailed refugee policy framework. The adoption of the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF), the enactment of the Refugee Proclamation No. 1110/2019, the commitments made through the 2016 Leaders’ Summit and subsequent Global Refugee Forums, together with directives on work rights, freedom of movement and documentation, collectively expanded the country’s legal and policy foundations for refugee inclusion.
These reforms reflected an important shift in thinking. Refugees were increasingly recognized not only as beneficiaries of humanitarian assistance but also as individuals capable of contributing to local economies and national development. The reforms also aligned Ethiopia with the growing international consensus that protracted displacement requires development-oriented responses alongside humanitarian protection.
However, experience over recent years has also demonstrated that adopting progressive policies is only the beginning of reform. Implementation has often proved more difficult than policy formulation. Institutional coordination has remained uneven, responsibilities have sometimes overlapped, financing has been constrained, and translating legal rights into practical opportunities has varied across sectors and locations. The challenge facing Ethiopia has therefore evolved from what commitments should be made to how existing commitments can be effectively implemented.
It is against this backdrop that the Makatet Roadmap should be understood.
Why the Makatet Roadmap Matters: Reframing Refugee Inclusion as a Development Agenda
One of the Roadmap’s most significant contributions is the way it positions refugee inclusion within Ethiopia’s broader development agenda, linking displacement to economic inclusion, public services and institutional development.
That reframing also tests the institutions expected to deliver on it. National institutions in refugee-hosting areas often face limited resources and increasing service demands. Integrating refugees into national systems without corresponding investments risks placing additional pressure on institutions that are already stretched. Consequently, successful inclusion depends as much on strengthening the capacity of these systems as on expanding access to them.
Beyond Policy Commitments: Can Better Governance Improve Refugee Inclusion?
The Makatet Roadmap is guided by principles that include government ownership, partnership, accountability, inclusion and the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus. While these principles are consistent with international refugee frameworks, the Roadmap places particular emphasis on improving coordination across government institutions.
This reflects an important reality. Refugee inclusion is no longer determined solely by refugee authorities. Access to employment depends on labour and investment policies; education depends on national education systems; health care depends on public health institutions; and climate resilience requires collaboration with environmental and natural resource sectors. Refugee governance has therefore become a cross-government responsibility.
The Roadmap rightly recognises that fragmented implementation can undermine otherwise progressive policies. Coordination on its own, though, will not deliver those gains. Effective governance also depends on clearly defined institutional mandates, adequate financing, administrative capacity and accountability for results. Without these conditions, coordination risks becoming an administrative exercise rather than a driver of meaningful change.
The Roadmap therefore invites a broader reflection: are implementation gaps primarily the result of insufficient policy commitments, or do they stem from weaknesses in governance and institutional coordination? Makatet appears to argue that the latter deserves much greater attention.
The Roadmap’s integration of climate resilience into refugee policy stands out. Refugee-hosting areas often experience environmental degradation, recurrent drought and increasing competition over natural resources. By connecting refugee inclusion with environmental restoration and climate adaptation, the Roadmap recognises that sustainable refugee responses are closely linked to broader ecological and development challenges.
The Real Innovation: Organizing Commitments Instead of Creating New Ones
The Makatet Roadmap does not create new refugee rights. Its distinctive contribution is organizing implementation of the rights that already exist. It organizes those commitments within a single implementation framework, aligning refugee inclusion with national development priorities, clarifying institutional responsibilities, strengthening coordination mechanisms and proposing a common pathway for implementation.
The Makatet Roadmap does not create new refugee rights. Its distinctive contribution is organizing implementation of the rights that already exist
The Roadmap represents a transition from policy formulation to implementation governance. Its success will therefore depend less on introducing new commitments than on whether it can improve the way existing commitments are translated into practice.
Implementation Will Be the Real Test
Like many ambitious policy frameworks, the Makatet Roadmap will ultimately be judged by implementation rather than intention.
Several challenges are likely to influence its effectiveness. Financing remains one of the most immediate constraints as humanitarian resources continue to decline while development needs increase. Institutional capacity also varies across sectors and levels of government, potentially affecting coordination and service delivery. Political economy considerations including competition over employment, land and public services will require careful management to ensure that refugee inclusion strengthens rather than strains relations with host communities.
Finally, refugee governance continues to evolve within a dynamic regional environment characterized by new displacement situations, internal population movements and shifting development priorities. This means that the Roadmap will need to remain flexible and responsive rather than static.
Beyond Ethiopia: What Can be Learnt?
The questions raised by the Makatet Roadmap extend well beyond Ethiopia. Many refugee-hosting countries across the IGAD region and the Global South in general have introduced progressive refugee policies while continuing to face significant implementation challenges.
One lesson emerging from Ethiopia’s experience is that refugee reform should not conclude with legislation or international pledges. Equal attention must be given to implementation arrangements, institutional coordination, monitoring systems and financing strategies. As refugee responses become increasingly integrated into national development agendas, governance capacity becomes as important as legal reform.
Another lesson is the importance of strengthening national systems rather than relying indefinitely on parallel humanitarian structures. However, integration should not be interpreted simply as transferring responsibilities to public institutions without strengthening their capacity. Sustainable inclusion requires long-term investment in education, health care, local economies, environmental management and public administration.
Conclusion: From Ambition to Accountability
The Makatet Roadmap represents an important milestone in Ethiopia’s refugee policy evolution because it redirects attention towards implementation, one of the least discussed dimensions of refugee governance. It acknowledges that legal reforms and international commitments, while essential, are only meaningful if institutions possess the capacity to translate them into measurable improvements in people’s lives.
Whether the Roadmap succeeds remains an open question. Its implementation will depend on sustained political commitment, predictable financing, capable public institutions and effective partnerships. These are demanding conditions that no implementation framework can guarantee on its own.
Nevertheless, the Roadmap makes an important contribution to refugee policy debates by shifting attention from what governments should commit to towards how those commitments can be implemented. That is a conversation that extends beyond Ethiopia. Across the IGAD region and the wider Global South, the future of refugee governance is likely to depend less on adopting new commitments than on whether institutions can deliver on the commitments that already exist.
