The United States has announced $4 million contribution to the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) and $9.3 million to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), UNICEF, and non-governmental organizations to address the impact of the pandemic on refugees and host communities in Uganda.
This is part of the $46 million total US government assistance in support of Uganda’s #Covid-19 response. With these latest contributions, the U S government in 2020 has provided nearly $162 million in refugee humanitarian assistance in Uganda.
“The United States is a longstanding donor assisting refugees and refugee hosting communities in Uganda. We have boosted our assistance during the #Covid-19 pandemic to address the additional needs of vulnerable refugees and the Ugandan communities that so generously host them,” US Embassy Kampala’s Chargé d’Affaires Christopher Krafft said. “We appreciate the Government of Uganda providing safe haven to those fleeing fighting and persecution in the region, even during these difficult times of the #Covid-19 pandemic.”
This emergency humanitarian assistance responded to the joint United Nations appeal to address #Covid-19 needs in Uganda. It includes nearly $6.6 million in funding from the U S Department of State to UNHCR’s overall multi-sectoral support for refugees and refugee hosting communities during the pandemic; $590,000 to UNICEF for youth and their care providers $1 million to the International Refugee Committee to assist urban refugees in Kampala whose ability to support themselves has been undermined by necessary pandemic-related lock-down measures; and nearly $700,000 to Alight for protection and Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) assistance related to #Covid-19 in seven refugee settlements in Uganda.
