Tuesday, November 29, 2022

Uganda Refugee Under-funding

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

This year, 130,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and South Sudan have fled continuing violence to find safety Uganda, putting further pressure on an overstretched humanitarian response.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is calling for urgent support and responsibility-sharing from the international community to preserve and reinforce Uganda’s model refugee policy of social inclusion and integration, amid surging needs, drastic funding cuts to global humanitarian programmes.

Funding shortfalls have forced UNHCR to introduce cuts to its lifesaving aid to refugees and forcibly displaced people in a number of operations across the world. Uganda is one of UNHCR’s most underfunded operations, with just 46 per cent of US$ 343.4 million received for 2022.

UNHCR does not even have sufficient funds to fully equip health centres to provide basic services.

Schools are trying to function beyond their capacity. 

As poverty has risen, so too have the risks of gender-based violence, such as child marriage and intimate partner abuse.

Uganda’s refugee response confronted by dire funding gap - Uganda | ReliefWeb

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