The United States is providing more than $82 million in new humanitarian aid to Uganda through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United States Department of State. This grant will help meet the urgent needs of the people of Uganda, who have been exacerbated by global food insecurity and regional conflict. This additional funding, which includes $21 million in emergency food assistance provided by USAID and over $61 million in humanitarian assistance through the Office of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) ) of the US Department of State to respond to the humanitarian needs of refugees and displaced persons. and people suffering from food shortages and violence in Uganda and the region. The conflict has plunged many Ugandans into famine. Food prices – already high due to the COVID-19 pandemic – have skyrocketed as a result of Russia’s war with Ukraine, putting families at risk of starvation. In addition, Uganda hosts more than 1.5 million refugees fleeing conflict in neighboring countries, especially the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan – making it the number one host country in Africa. Most refugees in Uganda depend on humanitarian food aid to meet their basic needs.
Today’s USAID support through the United Nations Food Program (WFP) will reach 1.4 million refugees with the distribution of beans, corn, and oil every month; and cash to buy food from local markets, and to provide new refugees with hot food at transit points and reception centers.
Also, the USAID grant is supporting the communities of Karamoja region of Uganda, who are suffering from severe drought due to severe floods and landslides last year which resulted in the crushing of many people in the region. More than half a million people in Karamoja are starving, and more than half of the children are suffering from severe malnutrition and need urgent food aid in the most affected areas. In response, USAID partner WFP will provide food aid and emergency food to more than 83,000 people in the region. This includes the production of Super Cereal Plus and Ready-to-Use Supplements – formulated to prevent and treat malnutrition in children, pregnant and lactating women.
This announcement includes over $82 million in humanitarian aid in Uganda, including over $61 million in humanitarian aid from the US State Department and $21 million from USAID. The Department’s support includes more than $41 million for UNHCR and nearly $20 million for other programs that support critical services such as health, education, protection, and income-generating activities. This additional assistance will provide life-saving services to both long-term refugees and the growing number of new arrivals. Since the beginning of 2022, Uganda has received more than 70,000 new refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.
The United States has been the largest donor to refugees in Uganda, with this latest announcement bringing US funding to nearly $170 million in fiscal year 2022 alone. A portion of today’s aid to Uganda is part of the $2 billion USAID humanitarian aid announced by President Biden on June 27 and is part of the additional funding for Ukraine. It is immediately planned in fiscal year 2022 to address the worst impacts of the global food security crisis through direct food assistance and health, nutrition, protection, and water, sanitation, and services of sanitation in countries with severe food shortages. , dependence on Russian and Ukrainian imports, and vulnerability to price volatility. This is in addition to USAID’s continued commitment to strengthening the resilience of Uganda’s food system in the face of global disasters.
For the latest information on US humanitarian assistance to Uganda, visit here.
