The Minister of State for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), Lillian Aber, has appealed to development partners to increase funding for Uganda’s refugee response.
“Uganda now hosts close to two million refugees. The number of refugees is increasing every day, but funding for the refugee response keeps decreasing,” she said during a meeting with officials from Muslim Charity UK at OPM headquarters in Kampala on Wednesday.
The Muslim Charity UK delegation was led by the organisation’s Director of Programmes and Policy, Irfan Rajput. Aber noted that sustaining Uganda’s refugee response efforts is not possible without continued support from development partners, but reaffirmed the country’s commitment to maintaining its open-door refugee policy.
The Minister commended Muslim Charity UK for its consistent support to Uganda’s refugee response over the years.
She highlighted urgent priority areas requiring assistance, including food relief, resilience-building initiatives, affordable housing, and improved service delivery, particularly in refugee-hosting communities.
“We are exploring new areas of collaboration with Muslim Charity UK and other partners in the face of declining funding to the refugee response,” Aber added.
The Presidential Advisor on Children and Youth Affairs, Florence Nakiwala Kiyingi, praised the Department of Refugees in OPM for its dedication despite limited resources.
She also commended Muslim Charity UK for supporting refugees through food relief, cash assistance, vocational training, and self-reliance programmes.
The Commissioner for Refugees, Patrick Okello, emphasized the need for increased support towards voluntary repatriation of refugees. Meanwhile, Hellen Bugaari, Director of the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) Secretariat in OPM, raised concern over shrinking operational funding.
Rajput acknowledged the importance of sustained assistance and pledged to explore additional areas of support for Uganda’s refugee response.
