World Bank grants Uganda $500m to support refugee programme

Kampala, Uganda (PANA) - The World Bank has approved $500 million to support Uganda’s Refugee Programme, the government of Uganda announced on Friday.

Uganda hosts about 1.5 million refugees, ranking number one in Africa and third in the world – after Pakistan and Turkey – according to figures by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Most of the refugees in Uganda come from South Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo, with several other countries like Rwanda, Burundi, Eritrea and even Pakistan adding to the numbers. The country has been praised for its liberal refugee policy, allowing refugees freedom to access work and allocating them land to grow their own food.

 “The grant will support refugees and refugee host communities through development projects that will support services such as education and healthcare,” said a statement sent by a Uganda ministry of Finance spokesperson from Washington.

The statement showed that the announcement was made by Mr Hafez Ghanem, the World Bank vice president for Africa during a meeting with Uganda’s minister of Finance and other officials.

“The World Bank vice president said Uganda is one of the two countries that have been selected to access the World Bank grant under the refugee window,” the statement added.

There have been incidents of conflict between Ugandan refugee hosting communities and refugees in some areas over the years, especially due to what some  Ugandans see as the privileged position of refugees.

Due to the monies that have poured into the country, especially since the influx of  refugees after the outbreak of war in South Sudan at the end of 2013, refugee camps are provided with safe drinking water and other amenities.

Uganda, with a per capita income of $666, cannot yet afford some of these amenities for all the communities in the country, and that creates a disparity.

-0- PANA EM/AR 12Apr2019