A joint three-day retreat between the office of the prime minister (OPM) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for the senior management has kicked off at Nyaika hotel in Fort portal.

The retreat which is the first of its kind in the region is aimed at tackling a number of issues that relate to refugee management in the country.

Musa Ecweru, the state minister for disaster preparedness says the retreat which kicked off on Tuesday will help them to critically analyze the refugee management challenges in the country and what they can do to address them.

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, the government suspended receiving of new asylum seekers as a way of managing the spread of COVID-19.

The disaster and preparedness minister, however, says this did not stop the turmoil in the neighbouring countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo, a thing that forced people to continue coming in amidst the halt by the Ugandan government to receive more refugees.

Ecweru says this will, therefore, help them to find ways on how best they can manage the situation amidst the COVID-19 restrictions.

Uganda currently hosts 1.4 million refugees with South Sudan refugees making the highest percentage at 74% of the total number of refugees.

Joel Boutroue, the country representative of UNHCR stressed the need to improve the livelihoods of the refugees in the country saying that most of them are living in very poor neighborhoods with limited access to basic services.