By Veronica Coffey

Overview

On March 6, 2025, the Wilson Center’s Refugee and Forced Displacement Initiative (RAFDI) hosted a special event where it presented the Refugee Host Country Leadership Award to the Republic of Uganda and the Republic of Moldova in recognition of their exemplary leadership in hosting refugees and ensuring their self-reliance. Ambassador Viorel Ursu of the Republic of Moldova to the United States and Ambassador Robie Kakonge of the Republic of Uganda to the United States accepted the awards on behalf of their respective countries. The Honorable Michelle Bekkering from the US Global Leadership Coalition keynoted this special event. Other speakers included Kateryna Smagliy, Counselor for Political Affairs and Public Diplomacy at the Embassy of Ukraine in the US; and Dany Bahar, Director of Migration, Displacement, and Humanitarian Policy at the Center for Global Development. RAFDI Director John Thon Majok moderated the event. 

In highlighting the leadership demonstrated by Moldova and Uganda, RAFDI aimed to inform and encourage other refugee-hosting countries and the global community to learn best practices from these two countries about the policies they have applied to achieve positive outcomes for refugees and host communities. Globally, 71% of all refugees are hosted in low- and middle-income countries, 69% in neighboring countries, and more than half of global refugees are in protracted situations. Despite having limited resources and facing their own development challenges, Uganda and Moldova continue to play a unique role in global refugee management. While they are from very different regions and different sets of circumstances, these two host countries have demonstrated how governments can shape innovative policies to bring about effective responses to the global refugee crisis. Lessons from the successes of these two host countries can be scalable to high-income countries.

Best Practices from Moldova and Uganda

The Honorable Michelle Bekkering began her keynote by lauding the generosity of Moldova and Uganda, noting how they have “empowered these refugees to contribute back to their host communities, reducing their dependence on humanitarian aid, and fostering their economic self-reliance, serving truly as a model for our conversations today.” 

Speaking on the current state of forced displacement in Ukraine, Kateryna Smagliy emphasized that over 92% of the displaced Ukrainians are in Europe with 4.6 million internally displaced inside Ukraine. “I would like to thank our neighbor Moldova for hosting so many Ukrainians and adopting…a special legislative act which ensured Ukrainians will not only be there safely…but they will be entitled and eligible for employment, giving them a greater sense of security,” she said. As Ukraine’s neighbor to the west, Moldova hosts one of the highest refugee populations per capita in Europe. While the Moldovan population is 2.5 million, over 1.4 million Ukrainians travelled through the country since 2022 and over 135,000 Ukrainians still reside there.  

Despite sudden and urgent need, close collaboration between the government, civil society, and the private sector ensured that the Moldovan people were ready to integrate Ukrainian refugees into their society. Ambassador Ursu recognized the role that the private sector played in integrating and employing refugees. I don't think the government would have been able to manage the whole crisis with out input from the private sector and civil society," he said. The private sector supported immediate responses such as transporting refugees from the Moldova-Ukraine border to safe homes. It also took initiative in outsourcing, fundraising, and overseeing the logistics of emergency aid relief distribution. Furthermore, the private sector helped unlock the potential of refugees by recognizing the gap in the growing information technology sector in Moldova that educated and skilled Ukrainians began to fill.

While Moldova is not typically a destination country but rather a country of passage, its parliament adopted a temporary protective mechanism to integrate a larger influx of Ukrainians. This mechanism guarantees access to the labor market, healthcare, education, social protection, and public services. Notably, many of the refugees who first arrived from Ukraine were women and the elderly. The temporary protective mechanism was essential for allowing Ukrainian women to work while having access to childcare and eldercare. Ambassador Ursu acknowledged that “through access to legal employment, education, and healthcare, Moldova has given...displaced Ukrainians not only a safe haven but also the tools to rebuild their lives.” This mechanism that provides not just emergency aid but also a livelihood for Ukrainians is not just an act of charity but is in Moldova’s national interest.

Uganda hosts a significant refugee population from Sudan, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Somalia, Eritrea, Rwanda, and Ethiopia, among others. It is currently the largest refugee hosting country in Africa with more than 1.7 million refugees. Though its resources have been strained, Uganda has made remarkable strides in supporting refugees.

Uganda is notable for having one of the most progressive refugee policies in the world. Its policy allows refugees to work, own land, and move freely within the country. Not only can refugees support themselves through self-reliance initiatives, but they can also pursue entrepreneurship through starting businesses that contribute to local economies. As Ambassador Kakonge noted, “when [refugees] are not encamped, when they are making their own food and creating different opportunities…not only are they employed, but they now employ others.” This benefits the refugees and their host communities while improving social cohesion.

Rather than framing refugees as passive victims, Ambassador Kakonge described how her country’s approach was instead giving them the chance to work with their hands: “Here is some land where you can stay. You can grow your food.” Ambassador Kakonge went further drawing from Uganda’s history: “when you are a landlocked country, you soon realize that you are actually a ‘land-linked’ country. And when you have had experiences of your own where you have sought refuge in other places – we have had wars in Uganda, we have had different situations – it only becomes part and parcel of the humanity [that we share].”

As a country hosting one of the largest refugee populations in the world, Uganda continues to uphold the key pledges it made at the Global Refugee Forum in 2023, including: increasing resilience and self-reliance of refugees through the sharing of land and farm animals; localizing refugee response and finding local solutions; providing education and health systems; building durable solutions; and making sure resources are equitably managed. 

Lessons for the International Community

Both Moldova and Uganda have effectively implemented refugee integration policies that helped reduce dependence on humanitarian aid and foster economic self-reliance for refugees and host communities. Moldova’s emphasis on quickly providing legal status for refugees and Uganda’s focus on freedom of movement and giving land to refugees to rebuild their livelihoods have effectively integrated significant numbers of refugees in each host country. 

Host country leadership is critical in creating a policy environment for refugee integration. Ambassador Ursu emphasized: "Our country shows that leadership is not measured by size or wealth. It is measured by values, action, and the impact on the people in need." Dany Bahar emphasized that policies that provide legal status to refugees are vital for expanding the economy and so we must also think about their scalability. "It's very important to think not only about policies that are effective, but also policies that are scalable," said Bahar.

Risk-taking is a great skill to learn from refugees as Bahar highlighted: “Migrants and refugees have one characteristic that makes them unique to all populations, and that is that they are risk-takers. Risk-taking is an excellent skill for people who want to be entrepreneurs…but for that to happen, people need to understand that they can appropriate the returns of their own investments.” When refugees feel that they can appropriate the returns of their investments, they are much more likely to be entrepreneurial and invest in their host communities. 

Good host country policies allow refugees to ensure their self-reliance and contribute to the labor force and society in general. “The labor market is a set of complementary occupations: a doctor needs a nurse, and a nurse needs a truck driver, and the truck driver needs a dentist…refugees can add to these massive complementary links in the economy,” said Bahar. For countries that have enabled forcibly displaced people to integrate and contribute to the local economies, refugees have enriched the culture, economy, and resilience of these host nations.

With two billion people currently living in conflict-affected countries and over 122 million people forcibly displaced, the issue of global forced displacement requires a multilateral and coordinated response among nations. “When your neighbor’s house catches fire, you know that it can come to you if it is not controlled,” said John Thon Majok. Uganda and Moldova have demonstrated exemplary leadership by enacting policies that add value, safety, and stability to the lives of refugees.