Responding to a refugee crisis in northern Uganda - May 2018

More than 550,000 people were reached in May 2018 through World Vision's response to hundreds of thousands of refugees who have arrived in northern Uganda. The response team reached: 

• 532,455 people with food assistance
• 71,099 children with child protection programming
• 63,000 people with clean water and sanitation assistance
• 47,640 people with essential non-food items and services at the World Vision-managed reception centres 
• 23,068 people with food security and livelihood programming
• 18,233 people with education activities
• 9,788 people with shelter and other essential relief items

• Every day, refugees fleeing South Sudan arrive at Uganda’s borders, escaping violent conflict, a deteriorating economic situation and lack of basic services. Since 2013, more than 1 million South Sudanese refugees have arrived in Uganda and 85 per cent of these refugees are women and children. 
• South Sudanese children fled into Uganda after being exposed to intense levels of violence, malnutrition, exploitation and other forms of abuse. The effect of this exposure needs to be mitigated. 
• Hostility between the host community and refugees has caused security incidents and continues to rise. There is an urgent need for more social cohesion projects to bridge the gap between refugees and the surrounding Ugandan communities. 
• The majority of refugees continue to rely on food assistance, although a growing recognition of the need to assist refugees to engage in activities that help them earn income to be more self-sustainable. Approaches that emphasises partnerships with local businesses, reductions of subsidies and demand-driven, market-based, livelihoods support are needed. 
• To address these issues, and meet the needs of people in need, World Vision has requested an additional $64.9 million to expand its response.