86% of refugees in Uganda are women, children-says UNICEF

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has revealed that 86% of the refugees in Uganda are women and children and most of them are from war-torn South Sudan.

The body also noted that since violence erupted in South Sudan in December 2013, more than 1.8 million people have crossed into neighboring countries.

"In just one year the population of refugees in Uganda has more than doubled from 500,000 to more than 1.25 million, making Uganda now host to the fastest growing refugee emergency in the world," reads part of the statement seen by New Vision.

Leila Pakkala UNICEF's Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa said: "More than one million children have been forced from their homes in South Sudan, often amid horrific violence," said "Day after day, week after week, they are being received by countries such as Uganda, Ethiopia and Kenya.

Her comments comes a head of the Uganda's International Solidarity Summit on Refugees (June 22-23) in which over 1,000 dignitaries including heads of states are expected. The summit is scheduled to take place at Speke Resort Munyonyo, Kampala.

Pakkala also said the Government of Uganda and other humanitarian partners such as UNHCR, UNICEF, and WFP on the ground are working tirelessly to respond to the more than 740,000 refugees who have arrived in Uganda since July 2016.

She added that such dramatic numbers are placing excessive pressure on State and host community resources, especially social services that are critical to children's well-being. 

"This approach provides better prospects for refugee children in Uganda than in many contexts globally. The very real hope is that such a model is supported widely across countries," she noted.

UNICE statement also revealed that the Government of Uganda  and the United Nations are appealing for $8 billion in funding for both emergency response and resilience interventions to Uganda's refugee and refugee-hosting population over the next four years.

It also highlights that it (UNICEF) in Uganda requires nearly $50m (about sh180b) in 2017.It also indicates that  $30m (about sh108b) is required in Uganda in each year from 2018-2020 to provide critical health, nutrition, water and sanitation, education, early childhood development, adolescent development, and child protection interventions, to both refugee and host community children.