The Edge: DRC Refugees in Uganda

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With multiple conflicts stretching across vast areas of the country, The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is one of the world’s most complex and long-standing humanitarian situations.

A protracted civil war ending in 2003 gave way to sporadic bursts of fighting, mainly in the Eastern areas of the country. A new surge of violence then broke out from 2016 in the Kasai region, which covers huge areas in the south and centre of the DRC.

Armed political and ethnic conflicts continue in many areas and in 2019, OCHA estimate that 12.8 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance and protection. This figure represents 10% of the total worldwide humanitarian caseload.

4.5 million people have been internally displaced, with an additional 825,002 seeking refuge in other countries.

Civilians here are exposed to gross human rights violations, sexual and gender-based violence, chronic malnutrition, and various health epidemics including the serious spread of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). ​

DRC Refugees in Uganda

Host to the fastest growing refugee crisis in the world, Uganda is Africa’s leading refugee hosting country, and the third largest in the world after Turkey and Pakistan. In March 2019, UNHCR estimated that there were nearly 1,240,000 refugees in the country, over a quarter of whom are from DRC. The Uganda Refugee Response Plan (RRP) estimates a total of 120,000 new arrivals from DRC, between 2019 and 2020.

Uganda has a good refugee protection environment, providing refugees with freedom of movement, the right to work and create their own businesses, the right to documentation and access to social services. The country uses a non-camp settlement policy, where refugees are allocated relatively good sized plots of land for shelter and agricultural production.

Despite this positive approach, the current joint response plan states that 80% of refugees in Uganda live under the international poverty line of $1.9 a day. As a developing country with the highest refugee population in Africa (1.4m and rising), Uganda doesn’t have sufficient funds to fulfil all the goals set out, and the response plan for Congolese refugees in Uganda is only 2% funded.

Kyaka II refugee camp

Kyaka II refugee camp receives 7% of these arrivals, with over 65% being children, who often suffer extreme trauma after witnessing the brutality of war and displacement. They face serious child protection risks and have nowhere safe to go during the day. A number of NGOs are providing primary education in Kyaka II, but early years education provision is limited for the youngest refugee children, at a vital time in their development.

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​Since January 2019, 16,195 new arrivals were registered in Uganda. In April, a 33% increase was reported compared to the previous month. As services for refugees and their host communities are so overstretched, UNHCR Uganda is calling on international non-governmental organisations and actors to step up their response.

Children on the Edge Africa has begun work on a three year plan to develop strong, community based Early Childhood Development (ECD) provision for all 30 refugee communities in the Kyaka II refugee camp. This will provide early years learning in a safe place for around 4,000 refugee children aged 3-6, giving them a place to recover from what they have been through and have the best possible start in life.

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