The socio-economic impact of Covid-19 on refugees and host community’s livelihoods in south western Uganda: a case of Nakivale refugee settlement

Abstract

This study examined the way the imposition of total lockdown during the Covid-19 epidemic affected the socio-economic livelihoods of refugees and host community’s at Nakivale refugee settlement in South Western Uganda. This study worked towards answering the following questions; to what extent did Covid-19 affect refugees and host community’s livelihood status at Nakivale refugee settlement?; how did Covid-19 affect the operations of government and other humanitarian stakeholders at Nakivale refugee settlement and how did they deal with such impact?; what alternative policy approaches were available to guide government and other actors in dealing with socio-economic livelihoods of refugees in pandemic events? By using a cross sectional design with a qualitative approach, the study used in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and participatory mapping to explore the research questions. The study findings revealed that the imposition of country-wide lockdowns affected operations of all stakeholders which in turn also affected the socio-economic livelihoods of refugees and host communities. It was thus recommended that in future epidemic events, the government as the overall overseer of refugee situations in tandem with humanitarian agencies, would need to consider attending to the plight of refugees in totality with its response to the general citizenry.