UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visits World Vision work at Imvepi Refugee Reception Point in northern Uganda

The United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, together with Uganda Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda visited World Vision’s case management and child-protection tent and the hot meals distribution at the Imvepi Reception Point prior to the UN Solidarity Summit for Refugees in Kampala hosted by the Government of Uganda.

He interacted with the children playing in the tent and talked with Child Protection Officer Evelyn Lucy Atim about the condition of the children and the process of supporting them. 

At the meeting with members of the host communities, the Secretary-General Guterres lauded the Government of Uganda’s generosity to welcome the refugees and urged the world that, “We have the moral duty to alleviate the suffering of the refugees”.

The UN Secretary General witnessed the hot meals distribution and took turns serving the refugees along with Prime Minister Rugunda and World Food Program Executive Director David Beasley.

Ahead of the Secretary General and the Prime Minister, European Commissioner on Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides, UNHCR Commissioner Filippo Grandi and US Ambassador to Uganda Deborah Malac also visited the hot meals activity. They briefly talked with World Vision Uganda’s Programmes Director Tinah Mukunda on ongoing child protection work for the refugee children.

Almost 60 percent of South Sudanese refugees fleeing from war are children. Everyday, 100 of them, often unaccompanied and separated from their parents, leave their homes, witness unimaginable violence and along the way, get exploited and abused.

World Vision’s West Nile Refugee Response work is focused on food distribution, protection, non-food items (NFIs) and protection. It has now reached out to 764,770 people as of May 2017.

Photos by Moses Mukitale, Communications Officer.