KAMPALA, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Relief agencies in Uganda say urgent funds are needed to cater to the critical needs of thousands of refugees fleeing fighting in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and sporadic clashes in South Sudan.
UN refugee agency figures show that the number of refugees fleeing into the country since January has reached more than 50 percent of the anticipated 67,000 new arrivals by end of this year.
Since January, Uganda has received over 35,000 refugees, a third of whom arrived in the past three weeks from the DRC, fleeing intense fighting in the North Kivu and Ituri provinces, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office here.
UNHCR and 44 other relief agencies in the country on April 29 launched an emergency appeal of 47.8 million U.S. dollars to cover a three-month initial urgent response for an influx of up to 60,000 refugees.
Esther Anyakun, Uganda's Minister of State for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugee said the funds are needed to provide urgent assistance to new arrival refugees, mainly women and children in dire need of protection.
She said Uganda continues to offer safe asylum to people fleeing, making it the largest refugee-hosting country in Africa.
Joel Boutroue, UNHCR Representative in Uganda said the country's asylum policy must continue to be supported generously. Boutroue said the emergency funds will be used to cater for protection, food, shelter and essential household items.
Funding will also support urgently needed healthcare supplies, and water, sanitation and hygiene services required to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other diseases, according to UNHCR.
Francis Iwa, Executive Director of Care and Assistance for Forced Migrants, a local nongovernmental organization, said, "While the world's attention is focused on Ukraine, we urge for peace in the DRC. Failing this, interagency partners need additional resources and supplies to meet the humanitarian imperative of the people who have fled to Uganda."
The funding appeal comes at a time when Uganda's response to the over 1.5 million refugees in the country is critically underfunded. An interagency report said as of the end of March, only 41 million dollars had been received against the country's refugee response plan of 804 million dollars in funding needs for 2022.
PEACE EFFORTS
There are ongoing regional efforts to pacify mineral-rich eastern DRC, which has faced decades of war. Regional leaders at a recent meeting in the Kenyan capital Nairobi directed all armed groups in the DRC to participate unconditionally in the political process to resolve their grievances. They also directed that a regional force be deployed to fight rebel insurgency in the country.
Following regional initiatives, the DRC government is engaged in peace talks with the different warring parties in the eastern part of the country.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame at a recent meeting in Uganda said a regional approach is needed to address the Congolese situation.
"This time we must insist on working together because these people have suffered a lot. I told President Kenyatta that if we don't come in as a region, Congo may become like Sudan," Museveni said. President Uhuru Kenyatta is Kenya's president and chairperson of the East African Community, a regional bloc bringing together Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi, South Sudan, and DRC.
"They need to talk without leaving anyone behind," Kagame said, noting that the Congolese security situation must be addressed once and for all. ■