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Top regional United Nations bosses are meeting in Kampala amidst growing regional challenges, including conflict and the growing refugee influx in Uganda.

The two-day meeting dubbed: Retreat of the Senior Policy Group (SPG) for Implementation of the UN strategy Consolidation, Conflict prevention and Conflict Resolution in the Great Lakes Region, is taking place at Sheraton Hotel in Kampala.

According to a statement released ahead of the meeting on Monday, the UN Uganda country office indicates that finding comprehensive solutions to addressing structural root causes and drivers of conflict are expected to be high on the agenda.

Other issues to be discussed include reducing the risk of statelessness in the region as well as creating conditions conducive to the safe and sustainable return, resettlement and reintegration of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees to mother countries.

Uganda has the largest refugee population in Africa and the third largest in the world, with the figure having nearly tripled between 2016 and 2022.

According to the Office of Prime Minister, as of May 2022, Uganda was hosting a total 1,531,593 refugees and asylum seekers.

Of these, nearly 66 per cent are South Sudanese, 30 per cent are from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and four per cent from Somalia.

The rest are largely from Burundi, Eritrea, Rwanda, Sudan, and Ethiopia. By March 2021, more than 90,000 lived in urban centres, especially Kampala, aided by Uganda's progressive policies that give refugees access to the same social services, land and jobs as locals.

However, the continued influx is straining the government's dwindling resources and service delivery to both nationals and refugees, according to OPM.

According to the communique released by the UN Uganda country office on Monday, in regard to Congolese refugees in Uganda, resettlement in other countries has become the most viable option as the chances of the refugees returning home any time soon have dimmed, and settling down permanently in Uganda is not possible.