Update – Southern Africa meant that previously self-sufficient refugees and asylum-seekers were forced to rely on humanitarian assistance for survival. Persons of concern were included in national COVID19 plans, although with health systems under pressure, there were significant gaps in access to testing. Vaccine coverage also remained low, with less than 3 per cent of refugees and asylum-seekers in most countries having received at least one dose. This could be attributed both to a lack of vaccine supply and vaccine hesitancy. Assessments showed that only South Africa had a vaccine coverage of 10 per cent for refugees and asylum-seekers. UNHCR continued to support COVID-19 preventive measures, including by equipping health, isolation and quarantine centres; providing essential medicines; facilitating training for health workers; and supporting vaccine delivery. Water, sanitation and hygiene initiatives were also scaled up and displaced communities, with the support of UNHCR, played an active role in raising awareness about COVID-19 and combating vaccine hesitancy. Across the region, UNHCR strengthened protection and sought to put in place innovative solutions, in line with the organization’s regional strategic directions (2020-2022), the multiyear, multi-partner protection and solutions strategy (2020-2024), and the regional external engagement strategy (2021-2022). In support of the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR), UNHCR engaged a wide range of stakeholders at the regional and country levels to promote implementation of pledges made at the Global Refugee Forum (GRF) and the high-level segment on statelessness, which took place during the seventieth annual session of UNHCR’s Executive Committee. Virtual regional consultations with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were held in September 2021, bringing together an estimated 600 participants, and concluded in a joint action plan for strengthened collaboration on localization, partnerships and GRF pledges. B. Progress and challenges in achieving the global strategic priorities Favourable protection environment To support ratification of the refugee conventions and other key international and regional instruments, UNHCR and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) established a five-year joint action plan (2020-2024). The plan has already resulted in several new joint initiatives, including a conference on GRF pledge implementation and the development of a draft action plan on asylum capacity, livelihoods, education, energy and statelessness. UNHCR developed an Africa-wide action plan with the International Association of Refugee and Migration Judges, an important feature of which was establishing regional training centres for judges. For the southern Africa region, the training centre is located in Cape Town, and it began delivering training on asylum and statelessness in 2021, with the objective of training 2,000 legal practitioners and judges by 2023. This strategic partnership will support UNHCR engagement on policy and judicial decisions in the years to come. In the Congo (Republic of), a law establishing the right to asylum and refugee status was promulgated in September 2021. Ratification of the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention) was ongoing, following a legal mapping exercise and progression towards incorporation in national laws and policies. UNHCR advocated with governments and regional economic communities to ensure respect for the principle of non-refoulement. Legal aid was provided to enhance access to documentation and action are underway to strengthen national asylum systems and reduce refugee status determination (RSD) backlogs, in Angola, Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa. 2