By Blessing Chinagorom
The United States of America has announced the provision of more than $25 million in additional humanitarian funding to assist refugees and asylum seekers in Uganda.
According to the statement released from the office of State Department Spokesperson on Friday, while stated that this fund was provided through the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) and United States Agency of International Development (USAID).
Adding that this fund will be given to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Food Programme (WFP) for this assistant, it was revealed that PRM is contributing more than $14 million to UNHCR and USAID is providing $11 million to WFP.
The statement futher said this additional funding will bring the United States’ total humanitarian assistance in Uganda to more than $178 million since the beginning of Fiscal Year 2023.
“These additional contributions to UNHCR, WFP will support the provision of essential services like health, education, protection, food assistance, and income-generating activities to the more than 1.6 million refugees in Uganda and will also benefit generous host communities across the country”.
The statement further revealed that Uganda hosts the highest number of the refugees of any African country and received more than 130,000 new refugees last year alone, primarily fleeing conflict in South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, and Sudan.
It noted that the United States is committed to serving all people in Uganda without discrimination. “We will continue to monitor program implementation and assistance to ensure that there is zero tolerance for any form of discrimination or harmful activities.
He said, “The United States remains the largest humanitarian donor in Uganda and will continue to support refugees sheltering in the country.
“We urge other donors to join us in supporting WFP and UNHCR and other humanitarian partners to assist the most vulnerable people affected by conflict and other crises throughout the region”.