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Uganda, partner countries and agencies supporting refugees will lobby for more funding during the Global Refugee Forum 2023 in Geneva, State Minister for Disaster, Preparedness and Refugees Davinia Esther Anyakun, has said.

The 2023 Forum, which is co-convened by five states: Uganda, Colombia, France, Japan and Jordan, is co-hosted by the Government of Switzerland and UNHCR starting from December 13-15, 2023 in Geneva, Switzerland. The forum is expected to bring together global leaders and stakeholders to discuss concrete solutions to address the pressing needs of refugees and host communities.

Anyakun, who together with Ambassadors of France and Japan visited Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Isingiro district, to see the projects funded by Japan and France in the settlement last week, told New Vision Online in an interview that 'Uganda being the largest refugee hosting country on the continent, it is important for the international community to take responsibility to ensure that funding' of Uganda's refugee response is taken seriously.  

Apparently, Uganda is hosting 1,561,634 refugees and asylum seekers after receiving new arrivals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and South Sudan since the beginning of 2023. According to a UNHCR report, by the end of June 2023, Nakivale, one of our oldest settlements of refugees in Uganda, had over 171,387 refugees.

“We are proud that the world is recognising the best practices that Uganda has put in into refugees. We have given them a settlement approach, the president has given them an open door policy which is very important for humanity to be respected.  This respect should be given to the refugees in Uganda as also a token of appreciation to the people of Uganda,” she said.

Minister explained that Uganda, Japan and France being part of co-conveners of Global Refugee Forum, they thought that it would be good to tell them converse that more funding and support is coming to host countries to tackle basic services such as health, education, and environment.

Davinia Esther Anyakun, state minister for disaster, preparedness and refugees, addressing the newly refugee arrivals from DR Congo at their settlement at Kankigi C, Juru zone in Nakivale settlement, Isingiro district recently. (Credit: Fred Turyakira)

She added that by beginning next year, they expect more funding to come through UNHCR to be able to support the challenges that the Uganda is grappling with the refugee response in the country and that if funding is not sufficient enough in my country to support all these services, it is going to be difficult because there a lot to since the country is still receiving new arrivals of refugees and asylum seekers.

“The Ambassadors of France and Japan have also been giving support in terms of finances and donations to our partners like UNHCR by providing facilities to address issues of education, health, environment and WASH (Sanitation). They need to go back on drawing table and see that more funding is being mobilized cater for these facilities,” Anyakun said.

She hailed France and Japan for giving support in terms of finances and donations to partners UNHCR to have basic services such as health, education and environment facilities in place and ensure that they able to be functioning to serve both the refugees and host communities.

“When we visited health centers, we were impressed with the works by the team that is working there, they are amazing, but the only challenge is that the space is not enough Visa-vie the number of patients that are coming into the unit. They are seeing over 500 out patients and over 200 inpatients. There is a need for the expansion of the Unit”, Minister added.

Matthew Crents’il, the United Nations High Commissioner for refugees (UNHCR) country representative (Uganda), urged the refugees to be grateful to the Government of Uganda for ensuring their security and hosting them.

“The peace and security you see in Uganda should not be taken for granted,” he said.

The ambassadors to Uganda, Xavier Sticker of France and Tomotaka Yoshimura of Japan pledged to continue supporting refugees in Uganda to ensure that they achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and effective protection of refugees and support to the host community.