The refugee burden that is weighing down Uganda with crushing needs

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and partners are seeking $68 million to provide life-saving assistance and protection for 99,000 refugees who have fled to Uganda this year.

The surging humanitarian needs situation is being made worse the refugees from South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) fleeing violence and seeking refuge in Uganda.  The UN Refugee Agency reveals that humanitarian efforts have been stretched to breaking point.

The UNHCR also reveals that at the start of 2022, Uganda was already hosting over 1.5 million refugees, making it   one of the largest refugee host countries in the world and the largest on the African continent.

Uganda is also a global leader in peaceful coexistence and the settlement of refugees with host communities. Refugees are provided with plots of land for housing and cultivation. Refugees and host communities access the same health facilities, and children attend schools together.

“We are grateful for the continued generosity of Uganda in receiving its neighbors who have been forced to flee, and the international community must, in turn, give financial support to Uganda,” Matthew Crentsil, UNHCR’s Representative in Uganda said.

“Without additional support, important gains in refugee self-reliance and economic inclusion are now at risk due to severe underfunding.”

By the end of August, UNHCR had received just 38 percent of its 2022 funding needs of USD 343.4 million to respond to the needs of refugees in Uganda, as determined at the start of this year.

The funding gap has strained UNHCR’s capacity to provide critical support in basic humanitarian assistance, child protection, registration, and livelihoods.

Refugees are seeing a sudden reduction in livelihood support, including agricultural inputs critical to using allocated land.