Uganda hosts 1.96 million refugees and asylum seekers under one of Africa’s pioneering refugee policy frameworks, granting freedom of movement, the right to work, and access to social services. Yet, despite these provisions, most refugees remain in designated settlements rather than relocating to areas with greater economic opportunity. This paper examines the factors that shape settlement patterns and constrain mobility within Uganda’s inclusive, self-reliance oriented model. Using a mixed-methods approach that combines literature review, administrative data analysis, and semi structured interviews, we find that incentives to remain in settlements and structural constraints to mobility increase aid dependence and limit refugees’ ability to pursue economic opportunities elsewhere. The paper concludes with policy recommendations to strengthen mobility-based self-reliance, reduce aid dependency, and further consolidate Uganda’s role as a regional pioneer in refugee policy.
| Repository name | URI |
|---|---|
| Reproducible Research Repository (World Bank) | https://reproducibility.worldbank.org |
Paper exhibits were reproduced on a computer with the following specifications:
• OS: Windows 11 Enterprise
• Processor: Intel(R) Xeon(R) Gold 6226R CPU @ 2.90GHz
• Memory available: 16.0 GB
• Software version: Stata 19 MP, Arcgis Pro, Excel
To successfully reproduce the analysis, follow these steps:
Excel folder. Each file generates a graph directly from the raw data; no additional steps are required.DWRAP.do. Update the directory path in line 18. All appendix graphs will be generated and saved in the .\Stata files\outputs folder.map folder. Follow the instructions in the README to reproduce the map.All data sources are publicly available but not all are included in the reproducibility package.
| Author | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
| Susan Awor | World Bank Development Research Group, CEGA Fellow | susanawor@berkeley.edu |
| Sandra V. Rozo | World Bank Development Research Group, CEGA, IZA, EGAP | sandrarozo@worldbank.org |
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| Location | Code |
|---|---|
| Sub-Saharan Africa | SSA |
The materials in the reproducibility packages are distributed as they were prepared by the staff of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this event do not necessarily reflect the views of the World Bank, the Executive Directors of the World Bank, or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the materials included in the reproducibility package.
| Name | URI |
|---|---|
| Modified BSD3 | https://opensource.org/license/bsd-3-clause/ |
| Name | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
| Susan Awor | World Bank Development Research Group, CEGA Fellow | susanawor@berkeley.edu |
| Reproducibility WBG | World Bank | reproducibility@worldbank.org |
| Name | Abbreviation | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reproducibility WBG | DECDI | World Bank - Development Impact Department | Verification and preparation of metadata |
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