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Inclusive Refugee-Hosting in Uganda Improves LocalDevelopment and Prevents Public Backlash

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  • Zhou,Yang-Yang
  • Grossman,Guy
  • Ge,Shuning

Abstract

Large arrivals of refugees raise concerns about potential tensions with host communities,particularly if refugees are viewed as an out-group competing for limited material resources and crowding outpublic services. To address this concern, calls have increased to allocate humanitarian aid in ways that (also)benefit host communities. This study empirically tests whether the presence of refugees in Uganda (one of thelargest refugee-hosting countries) has improved public service delivery, and consequently, dampened potentialsocial conflict. The data com- bines geospatial information on refugee settlements with unique longitudinal data onprimary and secondary schools, road density, health clinics, and health utilization. This study reports two key findings.First, particularly after the 2014 arrival of over 1 million South Sudanese refugees, host communities with greaterlevels of refugee presence experienced substantial improvements in local development. Second, using publicopinion data, we find no evidence that refugee presence is associated with more negative (or positive) attitudestowards migrants or migration policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhou,Yang-Yang & Grossman,Guy & Ge,Shuning, 2022. "Inclusive Refugee-Hosting in Uganda Improves LocalDevelopment and Prevents Public Backlash," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9981, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:9981
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    Keywords

    Health Care Services Industry; Educational Sciences; Health Service Management and Delivery; Crime and Society;
    All these keywords.

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