US announces $7.5m funding to Uganda to support Sudanese refugees
US Ambassador to Uganda William Popp. PHOTO/ FILE
What you need to know:
- There are over 33,000 Sudanese refugees in Uganda, 19,000 of whom have arrived in Kampala since the start of 2024. Most Sudanese arrivals are from Khartoum.
As Uganda continues to witness increasing numbers of Sudanese arrivals seeking safety from a war that has raged their country for more than a year, the United States on Tuesday announced $7.5 million (about Shs28b) new funding to the East African nation.
There are over 33,000 Sudanese refugees in Uganda, 19,000 of whom have arrived in Kampala since the start of 2024. Most Sudanese arrivals are from Khartoum.
The new funding is to support the Sudan refugee response plan in Uganda, bringing the total US humanitarian assistance in the East African nation in Fiscal Year 2024 to more than $92 million (about Shs338 billion).
The money is part of nearly $424 million in additional humanitarian funding for Sudan and neighboring countries announced at the UN General Assembly (UNGA).
According to a Tuesday statement from the US mission in Uganda, the new funding from the American people is provided through the US Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, enables UNHCR Uganda to provide critical assistance to Sudanese refugees and their host communities, including emergency relief supplies, healthcare, protection of vulnerable children and victims of gender-based violence, and water and sanitation facilities.
The United States provides more than half of all humanitarian funding in Uganda.
“The crisis in Sudan is a global challenge, and we’re proud to help the Ugandan people as they provide safety and security to their neighbors from Sudan. As the largest single donor of humanitarian assistance supporting Sudanese refugees in Africa, we recognize the importance of assisting those fleeing conflict and working toward a safe return when the fighting ends,” said the US ambassador to Uganda, William Popp.
Uganda currently hosts the third-largest refugee population in the world, and the largest in Africa with majority of the refugees coming from South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo yet it was among UNHCR’s 13 top underfunded operations globally in 2023.
According to UNHCR and the OPM, refugee population currently stands at 1.7 million but expected to hit 2 million by December. About 57 percent are from South Sudan; 32 percent from DR Congo; 3 percent from Somalia; and 3 percent from Eritrea, Rwanda and Sudan.
The Uganda Country Refugee Response Plan (UCRRP) which is seeking $858 million for 96 partners to support over 1.67 million refugees and 2.7 million host community members, had by May 2024 received just 13 per cent of the required funds.
