Uganda marked World Environment Day 2026 under the theme “Climate Action Begins with You: Act Now.” While global discussions often center on emissions and international commitments, in Uganda’s refugee-hosting districts climate change is already a lived reality.

This oral presentation was presented at the Bold Ideas for Brighter Futures Conference on child and adolescent mental health held in Cape Town, South Africa in May 2026.

The article emphasises that before children can learn, play, or thrive, they need access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH).

uvenal, who left school after primary education due to financial challenges in a family of seven, transformed his life after realizing that limited family land could not secure his future and deciding to acquire practical skills. Starting with casual construction work and later learning soap and paint making in his community, his breakthrough came when World Vision’s TARE Youth Engagement and Employment Project provided entrepreneurship training, financial literacy, and access to savings groups, enabling him to expand into a formal business. Today, he is the owner of “Dirty Cleaner,” a growing manufacturing company producing soap, shampoo, and paint, and has trained over 480 people in vocational skills. His success, including winning a national youth entrepreneurship prize and reinvesting in his business, has allowed him to support his family, acquire assets, and pursue a vision of building generational wealth while inspiring others through his journey from limited opportunity to empowered entrepreneurship.

In the Shadow of Hunger: The Power of Self-Reliance to Protect Children and Restore Hope

Beyond improved yields, farmers also say they have adopted climate-smart agriculture practices, including monitoring rainfall patterns and using the data to guide planting decisions. The approach, they say, has reduced losses caused by unpredictable weather.

A mother in Dhaka's slums was forced to choose between feeding her children and educating them. Read her story of loss, guilt, and one daughter's second chance.

We are supporting farmers with climate-smart agricultural practices, access to savings, markets, and technologies that help them adapt to changing weather conditions. The programme has reached nearly 10,000 farmers in Lamwo and Adjumani districts, including both refugees and members of host communities.

In South Sudan, girls like Shufa are forced from school into labour—hunger and displacement push millions of children’s futures to the brink.

That situation began to change after the family joined the Aleamandro Farmer Group under the Uganda Refugee Resilience Initiative (URRI) Programme and was introduced to nutrition-sensitive agriculture, a farming approach designed to address both food shortages and poor diets at the same time.