South Korea donates food worth sh10.2b

_________

As a lifeline to vulnerable communities, South Korea has donated shillings of 10.2 billion ($2.8m) in food aid to refugees and schoolchildren to alleviate hunger and support education.

The 3,000 metric tonnes of rice, channelled through the World Food Programme (WFP), will provide critical nutrition to over 90,400 refugees and asylum seekers residing in settlement camps nationwide.

Part of the food is to support 240,000 schoolchildren in 315 schools in Karamoja to get lunch for the entire third term.

The intervention comes as food ration in refugee settlements dries up, fuelling hunger and malnutrition among the already vulnerable populations.

Uganda is currently home to over 1.7 million refugees and asylum seekers coming from 34 different countries with majority of them coming from South Sudan and DR Congo who mainly run away from home due to armed conflict.

While handing over the aid to WFP in Kampala on October 3, 2024, Korean ambassador to Uganda Park Sung-Soo said his government has consistently provided rice support through WFP, totalling 24,000 metric tonnes so far, enabling them to assist refugees with a hot meal.

“Last week, I visited Adjumani district where I witnessed that the situation was dire as refugees continued to flood. I felt the urgency of addressing their humanitarian needs,” he said.

The ambassador said they recognize that responding to refugee crisis requires swift and effective action that addresses both humanitarian needs and economic challenges especially faced by women and children arriving under difficult conditions.

"Uganda has made significant progress in this area, but collective action from the region and international community is essential,” he said.

H.E Park Sung-Soo, the Korean Ambassador to Uganda addresses the media during the official handover of food aid from the Republic of Korea to WFP at their country office in Kampala on Wednesday, October 2, 2024. (Credit: Lawrence Mulondo)

Financial constraints

While receiving the food aid, WFP deputy country director Marcus Prior said the food aid comes at a critical time when WFP is facing considerable financial challenges meeting refugee needs.

Prior said currently in settlements, they are moving away from what has been largely status-based assistance where a refugee was receiving support from WFP every month to a vulnerability-based approach.

He explained that in this, they are using available data and individual profiling exercises to put refugees into three categories including the most vulnerable who receive food 60% ration, the less vulnerable who get a 30% food ration and those who are self-reliant and no longer need regular humanitarian food assistance.

"We are working hard to increase the number of refugees in category three who are self-reliant so that we can focus the resources available in the best way possible since globally the funding projected for refugee responses is not good," he added.

He said the food will directly impact the lives of thousands of children especially girl students by keeping them in schools and protecting them from many social challenges.

Prior added that in Karamoja, WFP has been partnering with the education ministry to implement their home-grown school feeding programme and is committed to continue supporting policy formulation and strengthening coordination.

WFP is also supporting 83 schools to grow drought-tolerant and nutritious crops such as orange-fleshed sweet potatoes to provide an extra source of nutritious food.

What government says

While representing the minister of disaster preparedness and refugees Lillian Aber, John Bosa Ssentamu the national field co-ordinator department of refugees at the Office of the Prime Minister said Uganda cannot single-handedly fulfil the needs of the refugees as they have social and economic needs which many are immediate needs, especially food.

(L-R) H.E Park Sung-Soo, the Korean Ambassador to Uganda receives a souvenir from Marcus Prior, the World Food Programme deputy country director in Uganda. This was during the official handover of food aid from the Republic of Korea to WFP at their country office in Kampala on Wednesday, October 2, 2024. (Credit: Lawrence Mulondo)

Ssentamu said given the continued emergencies and the tweaking in of refugees, a lot more is still needed and therefore asked all countries to mobilise more support to support the refugees in the different spheres.

He added that Uganda is under a protracted refugee situation where refugees who come in do not stay temporally but stay for decades due to the conditions in their countries.

"As a country, we are trying to embrace the humanitarian-development nexus to see how best the refugees who stay longer can be supported with the development arm and become self-reliant," he said.

Dr Cloephus Mugenyi, a commissioner at the education ministry said every child has a right to learn, to be healthy, to thrive and to realise their full potential, and that access to diverse safe and nutritious food is critical to ensure that.

Mugenyi said beyond the meals, schools are the perfect places to help the children acquire relevant knowledge, skills and positive behaviour for nutrition, hygiene, health and apply these at home and in their communities.

The commissioner said the government has implemented universal primary education and universal secondary education to foster human capital development as a prerequisite for eradication of hunger and poverty.

He, however, said despite the intervention, 53% of the primary school children drop out by grade seven and lower secondary school enrollment stands at 24%.

“School feeding, health and nutrition are recognised in the national vision 2040 and the National Development Plan (NDP) three as the over aching development policy and planning frameworks,” he explained.

“The Government acknowledges the significance of school meals on cognitive development school performance and achievement.”

He said the Uganda Vision 2040 and the NDP 3 have recommended the development of the national school feeding policy and strategy and the process is ongoing.

Mugenyi said government has made more commitments in relation to school feeding including developing the national school feeding policy by 2025 creating a budget line and allocating funds to support the national school feeding program with effect from 2025-2026.

He said the policy will ensure a coordinated and sustainable approach to enhance nutrition and education for all children.