By: Grace Kalenge

KAMPALA

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 the 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, Mr Irfan Rajput. Aber noted that sustaining Uganda’s refugee response efforts is not possible without continued support from development partners. She, however, reaffirmed the country’s commitment to maintaining its open-door refugee policy.

The Minister commended the Muslim Charity UK for its continued support to Uganda’s refugee response over the years.

She highlighted areas that require urgent assistance, including food relief, resilience-building initiatives, provision of affordable housing, and improvement of service delivery, especially in the refugee-host communities.

“We are exploring new areas of collaboration with the Muslim Charity UK and other partners in the face of declining funding to the refugee response,” Aber said.

The Presidential Advisor on Children and Youth Affairs, Hon. Florence Nakiwala Kiyingi, appreciated the Department of Refugees in OPM for its commitment to the refugee response despite the resource constraints.

She also commended the Muslim Charity UK for its support to the refugee response through food relief, cash assistance, vocational training, and self-reliance building interventions, among others.

The Commissioner for Refugees, Mr Patrick Okello, emphasised the need for support for the voluntary repatriation of refugees. Meanwhile, Ms Hellen Bugaari, the Director of the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) Secretariat in OPM, expressed concern over shrinking funding to the Secretariat’s operations.

Mr Rajput acknowledged the significance of sustaining support to the refugee response and pledged to explore new areas of assistance.

END