By Drake Nyamugabwa
The World Bank has approved US$ 500 million (Shs1.8 trillion) to support Uganda’s Refugee Programme.
The World Bank Vice- President for Africa, Hafez Ghanem made the announcement while meeting the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Matia Kasaija at the on-going World Bank /International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings in Washington, DC, United States of America.
Hafes says that the grant will support Refugees and Refugee host communities through development projects that will support services such as Education and Healthcare adding that Uganda is one of the 2 countries that have been selected to access World Bank grant under the refugee window.
These funds will be availed to Uganda as soon as the due processes have been completed.
Currently, Uganda is hosting over 1 million refugees, of which over 900,000 are from South Sudan.
Uganda’s refugee hosting model is one of the most progressive in the world. However, its generous policy towards refugees is under threat, as thousands of new refugees arrive each day while its refugee appeal is chronically underfunded. Rich countries have turned their backs on people fleeing South Sudan as they have offered extremely few resettlement places to vulnerable refugees.
Resettlement gives vulnerable refugees a chance to restart their lives in dignity, but in 2016 only 11 South Sudanese refugees were resettled from Uganda.
