news 16 March 2026 Daily Monitor (Uganda)
Refugees in Uganda Face Food Shortages as Aid Funding Plummets
Sharp declines in humanitarian funding have left over 60 percent of Uganda's 1.6 million refugees without adequate food, healthcare, and education support. New initiatives in Palorinya aim to boost self-reliance amid the crisis. Source: https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/refugees-hit-hard-as-aid-dwindles-5392556
Uganda, Africa’s top refugee host with 1.6 million people—third globally—is grappling with severe aid cuts. Humanitarian funding has fallen dramatically from $490 million in 2018 to just $130-140 million in 2025, according to UNHCR data.
This shortfall means more than 60 percent of refugees lack World Food Programme aid, with rations slashed to 30-60 percent of needs. Health services are overstretched, and education suffers as hungry children struggle to learn.
Titus Tumusime, ChildFund Uganda’s Country Director, highlighted the impact during a visit to Palorinya Refugee Settlement in Obongi District. “Many children can’t concentrate in school due to hunger,” he noted, urging self-reliance programs for refugees and hosts.
Local leader Samuel Mpimbazi Hashaka, Obongi RDC, pointed to U.S. funding withdrawal as a wake-up call. “Uganda is agricultural; we must reduce donor dependence,” he said, amid shortages of teachers and health workers.
Responses include new classrooms and a demonstration farm commissioned by ChildFund Uganda, ChorogUsan for Children, Good Farmers, and KOICA. Palorinya, home to 142,000 refugees (53 percent children) since 2016, benefits from these for better education and farming skills.
KOICA’s Ahn Jihee emphasized early childhood education’s role and shared Korea’s post-war recovery story to inspire resilience in livelihoods and nutrition.
Refugees mainly hail from DRC (52.5 percent), South Sudan (32.8 percent), and others.
Source: Daily Monitor (Uganda)