An appraisal of refugee participation in the management of Meheba Refugee Settlement in Zambia 1971-1994

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Periodical article

Title:	An appraisal of refugee participation in the management of Meheba Refugee Settlement in Zambia 1971-1994
Author:	Wamburakwao, Sapao
Year:	2000-2001
Periodical:	The Journal of Humanities (Lusaka) (ISSN 1027-7455)
Volume:	3
Pages:	58-73
Language:	English
Notes:	biblio. refs., ills., maps
Geographic terms:	Zambia Central Africa
Subjects:	refugees resettlement Management, Public Administration Meheba Refugee Settlement (Zambia) management
Abstract:	The Meheba Refugee Settlement was set up in the North-Western Province of Zambia in 1971 to cater for rural refugees from Angola. Later numbers were swelled considerably by more refugees from Angola and from Zaire, compounded by a smaller number from Rhodesia, Namibia, and South Africa, until a maximum of 12,000 inhabitants was reached. The purpose of the author is to see just how far the refugees were allowed to participate in the running of the settlement. In fact what began as a promising project collapsed under the weight of the paternalism of the government and of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). In 1986 OXFAM launched a promising project which employed bottom-up participation, giving refugees the chance to do things for themselves. It folded within two years, largely because of government interference. The obvious conclusion is that unless all parties are agreed on the way in which they are to participate in such projects, they are simply never going to get off the ground. Notes. [ASC Leiden abstract]