Updated October 2026: this post was first published in April 2020. We have expanded it with a summary drawn from the adaptation plan and policy brief it shared.
By April 2020, COVID-19 cases were rising across the East and Horn of Africa. Governments were introducing emergency public health measures, and humanitarian and development partners were working out how to protect refugees, internally displaced people (IDPs) and host communities while keeping longer-term work going. We responded in two ways: we adapted our own work plan for April to June 2020, and we set out policy messages for members and partners. Both start from the same position, a dual focus that treats the COVID-19 response and long-term planning for protracted displacement as one agenda.
Supporting members and partners to adapt
The first workstream focused on coordination and shared learning. We started a series of online webinars, the first on community engagement and protection on 9 April, turned the monthly Regional Policy Working Group into a COVID-19 forum, surveyed members on the support they needed, and met UN agencies and donors to share key messages on the role of NGOs. In Somalia we supported the Danwadaag and Durable Solutions Programme consortia to adapt their programmes and supported the National Durable Solutions Secretariat’s COVID-19 strategy. In Ethiopia we revised our joint work plan with UNHCR on CRRF-related activities and worked with members on common policy messages. In Kenya we refocused coordination meetings on COVID-19 and contributed to messaging through the refugee NGO subgroup and the refugee donor group. We documented the adaptation process monthly, and all meetings and learning events moved online.
Keeping the durable solutions agenda moving
The second workstream kept long-term work on track. Our 2020 policy priorities stayed in place: local integration, inclusion and protection; the agenda following the Global Refugee Forum; the IDP agenda; and displacement financing. In Somalia we shared the aspirations survey and land governance studies and held an online workshop on housing, land and property and forced evictions for Danwadaag partners. In Ethiopia we shared our research synthesis and area-based training tools. In Kenya we prepared a political economy analysis of Garissa and Turkana counties and continued as learning partner to a DRC, NRC and ITC consortium in Garissa.
Five policy messages
Engage communities and stay accountable to them. Engage early to build trust, working through community structures that durable solutions partners already use, and invest in community-led action, drawing on the Ebola response. Go beyond complaints mechanisms to two-way communication with displaced people at every stage.
Uphold rights and protection. Border measures must respect international human rights and refugee law. Displaced people face crowding, limited water and sanitation, movement restrictions and documentation barriers to health care, and stigma and misinformation can raise tensions and lead to forced evictions. Women and girls need specific measures and scaled-up protection monitoring.
Respond to needs in camps, settlements and cities. Keep essential services running in camps and do not push risks onto local actors if responses go remote. Movement restrictions should not be arbitrary or discriminatory and should last no longer than needed. In cities, connect national coordination with local government and identify vulnerable people and the networks that support them.
Work through area-based, locally led approaches. Use existing coordination structures rather than parallel ones, partner with local authorities, ground changes in context analysis, and include displaced people in national COVID-19 strategies. Treat the pandemic as a broad emergency affecting food security, livelihoods, education and protection.
Keep a dual focus. Continue dialogue and research on long-term solutions, link COVID-19 programming to the structural vulnerabilities of displaced communities, and keep processes such as the CRRF, the IGAD Nairobi process and the Global Compact on Refugees moving.
What we asked of donors and governments
We asked donors and operational partners to allow flexibility to reprogramme while protecting multi-year funding for durable solutions, and to plan jointly with national and local governments, especially health authorities. We asked governments to manage border and movement restrictions in line with human rights and refugee law, to lift them when no longer needed, and to include displaced populations in national strategies.
Read the COVID-19 adaptation plan and the COVID-19 policy brief.
References
ReDSS (2020). COVID-19 adaptation plan, April to June 2020. Regional Durable Solutions Secretariat. https://www.regionaldss.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/ReDSS-COVID-19-Adaptation-Plan-April2020.pdf
ReDSS (2020). COVID-19 policy brief, April 2020. Regional Durable Solutions Secretariat. https://www.regionaldss.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/ReDSS_COVID19-Policy-brief-April2020.pdf
