Governments today pledged $352.6 million for refugees at the Uganda Solidarity Summit in Kampala. Oxfam welcomes the international community’s new commitments but said they continue to fall short of meeting the needs of refugees in the African country.
Peter Kamalingin, Oxfam Country Director in Kampala, said: “Uganda is being held up as the posterchild for successful refugee responses but this cannot be maintained without international support. Today's pledges are the start of an important process to address the needs, and other countries have promised future funds - but these must be delivered immediately to match the urgency of the response.
“Within this response the crucial role of local humanitarian agencies must be recognised with funding to support them to deliver the response in a timely and cost-effective way.
“We welcome the international community's recognition of the vital importance of tackling the root causes of the crisis, and in particular the need to push for peace in South Sudan. However, South Sudanese people need more than positive words and we need to see a genuine progress towards a peaceful resolution to the conflict."
Notes aux rédactions
The $352 million is less than a fifth of the $2 billion the summit had hoped to achieve and just over half of the $637 million Uganda needs for the county’s South Sudan refugee response.
Almost a million people have fled South Sudan for Uganda since December 2013. This year an average of 2,000 people have arrived each day. Uganda is now hosting more than 1.25 million refugees in total, a number which has doubled over the last year. The vast majority – 86% – are women and children who need specific support to keep them safe from rape, beatings, torture, hunger and abandonment.
Contact
Dorah Ntunga, dorah.ntunga@oxfam.org, +256 774853745
For updates, please follow @Oxfam.
Please support Oxfam's humanitarian response to the refugee and migrant crisis
The $352 million is less than a fifth of the $2 billion the summit had hoped to achieve and just over half of the $637 million Uganda needs for the county’s South Sudan refugee response.
Almost a million people have fled South Sudan for Uganda since December 2013. This year an average of 2,000 people have arrived each day. Uganda is now hosting more than 1.25 million refugees in total, a number which has doubled over the last year. The vast majority – 86% – are women and children who need specific support to keep them safe from rape, beatings, torture, hunger and abandonment.
Dorah Ntunga, dorah.ntunga@oxfam.org, +256 774853745
For updates, please follow @Oxfam.
Please support Oxfam's humanitarian response to the refugee and migrant crisis