JRS in Zambia

Refugees in Zambia

Refugee Problems

Meheba

Nangweshi

Northern

Peace Centre

Policy

Meheba

Schools

Teachers

Health Education

Community Leaders

Women's Club

Cultural Activities

Meheba Refugee Settlement

It is located in North Western province, Zambia, about 70 km from Solwezi, the capital of the province. It was created in 1971 in order to accommodate the refugees who were fleeing the colonial and civil wars in Angola.

The population of Meheba has always registered a majority of Angolan refugees. Between 1994 and 1998, during the Angolan peace process, thousands of Angolans returned voluntarily to Angola and it was expected that eventually Meheba would be closed down. Unfortunately, with the resumption of the war in 1998 the number of refugees increased from around 32,000 in 1999 to almost 54,000 as of August 2001.

With death of Jonas Savimbi in February and signing of peace in Angola early this year, Angolan refugees began to repatriate spontaneously to Angola. It is estimated that around 6,000 have returned home so far. Not all Angolan refugees will return with the organised official voluntary repatriation next year 2003. Some would wait for their children to finish their education or training in Zambia and others said they would like to wait and see until they are sure peace has taken roots and landmines removed.

Meheba is now spread over an area of around 800 square kilometres accommodating refugees in eight administrative zones. Shortages of food and non-food items were experienced in 2002 with donor countries failing to contribute to WFP stocks and existing stocks being diverted to the other crises. The shortage of funds in other areas, particularly in education, had a negative impact on all refugees in Meheba especially the new arrivals during 2002.

After the end of open hostilities in Angola, some thousands refugees have started going back to their areas of origin. JRS is preparing an operation to accompany them in their repatriation process and in the building of a new life back home.

JRS in Meheba

In 1993 The Zambian Episcopal Conference (ZEC) invited JRS to provide Pastoral Care for the refugee population in Meheba. Since then the refugee population in Meheba has been growing in size and complexity. JRS has become more involved in developing services that lead to community capacity building and increased self-reliance. Through our ministry of accompaniment, JRS has developed a consultative and participatory approach at grassroots level, which has led us to expand our service mandate to include programmes in education, community development/agriculture and community health education. These are delivered to the people in the most remote areas of the settlement

We speak out on behalf of the refugees through all our programmes promoting improvements in their lifestyle. An independent evaluation of our presence in Meheba during 2000 clearly revealed that our ministry here continues to be appreciated and valued by the refugee community and by other church organizations and NGOs.

Close collaboration takes place between JRS, Association for Aid and Relief, JAPAN (AAR) and Medecins Sans Frontieres – France (MSF-F) in the area of food monitoring which has seen an improvement in 2001 and 2002 of the food distribution services provided to the refugees. JRS also works closely with AAR and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) to ensure services especially in the area of education are not duplicated.

Through our ministry of accompaniment, JRS has developed a consultative and participatory approach at grassroots level, working closely with communities to ensure that the opinions and aspirations of the beneficiaries are included in programmes. JRS works with the Zambia Open Community Schools (ZOCS) in the Education programme to ensure local recognition of the programme. There’s also close collaboration with Sisters of Charity. They continue to support the running of JRS pastoral programme, leading youth activities and co-ordinating the programme.