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UGANDA / BIOMETRIC REFUGEE VERIFICATION
STORY: UGANDA / BIOMETRIC REFUGEE VERIFICATION
TRT: 02:36
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT UNHCR ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / SWAHILI / NATS
DATELINE: 01 MARCH 2018, ORUCHINGA, UGANDA
01 MARCH 2018, ORUCHINGA, UGANDA
1. Med shot, families queueing
2. Wide shot, families queueing
3. Wide shot, verification of refugees
4. Med shot, UNHCR staff checking documents on computer
5. Close up, UNHCR staff holding documents
6. Med shot, UNHCR staff speaking to government team member
7. Wide shot, UNHCR staff looking through family's records
8. Med shot, government team members registering refugees
9. Various shots, UNHCR officer registering refugee
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Douglas Asiimwe, Head of Refugee Protection, Office of the Prime Minister, Uganda:
"This is important to us to increase the accountability and the transparency not only to the government and UNHCR and partners, but also the donors who are very key in our operation."
11. Wide shot, UNHCR staff conducting iris scan
12. Close up, screen with iris scan
13. Tilt down, elderly woman getting finger prints
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Bornwell Kantande, Representative in Uganda, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees:
"This exercise will help us build a good dataset for Uganda and ensure that their model supporting refugees where they give them freedom of movement, the right to work and provide this open settlement approach, is also sustained."
15. Various shots, Jenipher assisting other refugees in verification process
16. SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Jenipher Mutamba, Congolese Refugee:
“They forced to move from place to place. This is why we support this verification. UNHCR has a global system so that if a refugee comes to Uganda then they know this is their new home. They can settle."
17. Various shots, verification of refugees taking place
18. Various shots, refugees at verification centre
The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said it was supporting a massive biometric refugee verification exercise in Uganda.
The exercise began on Thursday (01 Mar) and aims to verify more than one million refugees estimated to be living in the country. UNHCR said it has deployed over 400 staff members to work with teams from Uganda's Office of the Prime Minister, the World Food Programme (WFP), and other partner organizations, as well as volunteer refugees to carry out the process.
The verification is expected to better assess refugee data in the country, ensuring greater accuracy and efficiency to get refugees the support they need.
SOUNDBITE (English) Douglas Asiimwe, Head of Refugee Protection, Office of the Prime Minister, Uganda:
"This is important to us to increase the accountability and the transparency not only to the government and UNHCR and partners, but also the donors who are very key in our operation."
The government is using UNHCR's advanced biometric registration software, which has already been used to register some 4.4 million refugees in 48 countries worldwide.
SOUNDBITE (English) Bornwell Kantande, Representative in Uganda, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees:
"This exercise will help us build a good dataset for Uganda and ensure that their model supporting refugees where they give them freedom of movement, the right to work and provide this open settlement approach, is also sustained."
Jenipher Mutamba fled the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) seven years ago. Today she is one of the refugee volunteers working with teams in Oruchinga, the first location for the exercise.
She expressed her belief that this process is important to safeguard the welfare and future of refugees who she said have nowhere to call home.
SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Jenipher Mutamba, Congolese Refugee:
“They forced to move from place to place. This is why we support this verification. UNHCR has a global system so that if a refugee comes to Uganda then they know this is their new home. They can settle."
The verification exercise is scheduled to be completed in the next six months. UNHCR said six teams of experts will work across the country to register about 18,000 people a day. Refugees who are verified will then be eligible for new food new ration cards, and other individual assistance.
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