In March 2017), 85,000 refugees have been registered in Rhino Camp, 86,063, Households 22 and Asylum seekers 75. Imvepi 77,322 received. And an estimated 300,000 at Bidi Bidi Settlement and 5,738 at new settlement Lamwo, Palorinya 148,381 refugees and Adjumani settlements respectively.
The Natural forest is getting depleted day by day and West Nile Region todate receive irregular rains, and moreso through out 2017 apparently little rain was received affecting most house holds to struggle for food, our partner ARAMAIC Relief International supported the refugees and and host community with World Action Fund the implementor of the project in food distribution in Bidi Bidi and Imvepi settlements.
Most of the refugees are hosted by the West Nile Communities and they share the land and infrastructures, there is need and support for sustainable agriculture and provision of certified seed to the refugees and awareness on environmental conservation to reduce the climatic adverse conditions in the region, as the region is holding one of the largest populations of refugees in the World.
Read/watch the support of World Action Fund and ARAMAIC Relief International in the settlements in Uganda https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Fmc4Z5jaeQ and http://redr.org.uk/en/News/aid-worker-stories.cfm/meet-the-member-peter-odama
Despite the signing of a Peace Agreement on the Establishment of a Transitional Government of National Unity in February 2015 and eventual return of rebel leader back to Juba to form a transitional government, each of the warring parties have accused and countered accused each other of not honoring clauses in the Agreement, thus raising concerns as to whether sustainable peace security and stability shall be achieved for the tens of thousands of those suffering from the continued violence and killings. World leaders, UN Envoys, and Diplomats have urged both opposition and the government side to honour the peace agreement and adopt durable solutions to end this crisis with demand for total total honesty in formation of transitional unity government
Problems raised by the refugees are multi-disciplinary in nature and spread across various age groups. They include: lack of adequate livelihoods support, conflicts among ethnic groups, with host communities and within homes due to GBV. Other issues were protection issues due to the high number of vulnerable persons, inadequate Non Food Items and poor housing material. Priority needs largely varied from settlement to settlement and among the male and female.
It is therefore important to focus on linking emergency with development by focusing on the promotion of environmental conservation through tree planting and training on sustainable energy use through use of energy saving stoves at the settlements and hosting communities.
The challenge however that is some households have complained that the kit was not adequate given their larger household sizes to an extent that in some household’s parents have to share the same tent with grown up children, given the limited plastic sheeting received and housing facilities as they have sizable number approximately 7 in a house hold, they often start building more houses within the settlement cutting down the trees. WAF through its field monitoring sessions has observed that cases of refugee households reporting loss, theft and worn-out/used up Essential Core Relief items are a common phenomenon. The situation is worst for the most vulnerable families and families arriving in especially the last six months as they have to hold on to be served as emphasis is still on the back log
