Uganda Refugee News - April 2026

Sector specific:

EDUCATION

• CARE - How school meals protect refugee children's education in Uganda

• East African Journal of Education Studies - Academic Resilience of Refugee Secondary School Students across Demographic Characteristics in Nakivale Refugee Settlement, Uganda

• FAWE - Tuseme Model: Empowering Learners in Refugee and Internally Displaced Persons

  (IDP) Settings - Perspectives from Uganda

• Nile Post - Uganda Hosts Sudanese Students for Exams Amid War Disruptions

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

• Energy Live News - World Bank backs climate-smart infrastructure in Uganda - The six-year programme will deliver improved access to essential urban infrastructure and services and help reduce flood risks and improve public safety

• Gulu University - Contested Landscapes: Environmental Resource Tensions Between Refugees and Host Communities in Ayilo I & II, Adjumani District, Uganda

• Monitor - New climate initiative to transform refugee settlements

• Nile Post - Govt Launches Tree Planting Drive in Adjumani and Lamwo to Safeguard Water Sources and Restore Forest Cover

• UNHCR - The REP Fund Announces Key Partners for Landmark Carbon Financing Initiative in Uganda and Rwanda

HEALTH

• Advanced International Journal for Research - Menstrual Hygiene Management among Refugee Women at Kabazana Reception Centre, Nakivale Refugee Settlement, Isingiro District, Uganda.

• Africa Renewal - Protecting the most vulnerable in an era of constrained resources - Investing in frontline health workers is essential to preserving the vital medical safety net that keeps refugee women and girls alive

• Countdown to 2030 -

  • Comparing Maternal and Child Healthcare Coverage and Trends in Refugee and Non-Refugee Districts in Uganda

  • Maternal and child healthcare coverage and trends: refugee vs. non-refugee districts in Uganda

• Europe Says - The Invisible Migration: How Urban Refugees are Powering Uganda’s Economy and Building Harmony

• Global Giving - Bringing Hope and Healing to Palabek Refugee Settlement

• IRC - EU funding strengthens epidemic preparedness and response in Uganda as refugee arrivals and disease risks rise

• Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health - Prevalence and factors associated with antenatal care services utilisation among urban refugees in Kampala, Uganda

• Monitor - Refugee despair deepens as food cuts fuel mental health crisis in northern Uganda

• Nile Post - EU-Supported Initiative Strengthens Uganda’s Disease Outbreak Response in Refugee-Hosting Districts

• Population Council - Acceptability, feasibility and effectiveness of integrating family planning information and services in food distribution programmes in refugee settings in Uganda

• UNHCR - Japan Strengthens Community Health Through Village Health Teams

• World Peace Foundation - Hunger and side-effects of antipsychotics in Palabek refugee settlement, northern Uganda

• World Pop - Refugee-hosting districts show stronger maternal health outcomes in Uganda, study finds

LIVELIHOODS & RESILIENCE

• African Journal of Emerging Issues - Livelihood sustainability among femal refugees in Uganda: A synthesis review

• FAO - From projects to systems: insights on agrifood systems transformation from FAO’s Uganda country programme review

• Grow Kudos - Food Production Is Not Enough: Closing the Nutrition Gap in Uganda’s Refugee Settlements

• Ideas - Mutual Benefits of Proximity: Economic Interactions Between Refugees and Hosts in Uganda

• Journal of Agriculture and Food Research - Uneven hydroclimatic risk and land access constraints challenge refugee agricultural self-reliance in Uganda

• Journal of International Migration and Integration - Determinants of Refugee Entrepreneurs’ Psychological Well-being: Examining the Roles of Psychological Capital, Subjective Entrepreneurial Success, and Need Satisfaction

• Journal of Policy and Development Studies - Access and Barriers to Financial Assets and Resources for Refugees in Swinga, Bidibidi settlement in Yumbe District, Uganda

• Mathematica - Evaluation of GiveDirectly’s Cash-only and Cash-plus Programs in the Nakivale Refugee Settlement (Uganda)

• Monitor - Let refugees’ right to work in Uganda become reality

• New Vision -

  • Cashless fintech project management extended to refugee settlements 

  • Vocational skills breathe life into BidiBidi refugee community

• Nile Post - Adjumani Refugees, Host Communities Empowered Through Skilling Initiative

• Observer - Thousands of refugee households in Uganda move towards self-reliance

• Peace News - The Invisible Migration: How Urban Refugees are Powering Uganda’s Economy and Building Harmony

• Research Square - In southwestern Uganda, refugee women in Nakivale Refugee Settlement are emerging as frontline drivers of SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) through climate-smart agriculture and community partnerships.

• Refugees International - Amid Aid Cuts, Uganda’s Right to Work for Refugees Must Become a Reality

• Soft Power - Mechanical lifeline - how LEGS project is reshaping lives for refugees in Nwoya and Adjumani

• WEF - How peer-led reskilling is helping bridge the skills gap in East Africa

• U-Learn - Workshop report – Emerging Good Practices, Successes and Lessons Learnt in Self Reliance and Resilience – December 2025

• UNCDF - (video) - "At First, I Was Just Trying to Survive" | From Refugee to Entrepreneur

• University of Antwerp - Welfare effects, perceptions and preference for refugee local integration: host-refugee dynamics in sub-saharan Africa

PROTECTION

• DRC - Stories from the Field: Elevating women-led ownership of GBV response and prevention in Uganda

• Journal of Central and Eastern European African Studies - Invisible Yet Resilient: Understanding the Vulnerability and Integration Pathways of South Sudanese Older Refugees in Uganda

• U-Learn - Mapping of existing complaints, feedback and safeguarding mechanisms in Uganda’s refugee response

WASH

• AJPH - Possibilities and Limitations for Conducting Wastewater and Environmental Surveillance in Refugee Camps Worldwide

• Malteser International - (video) - Uganda: Rehabilitated tapstands for Nakivale refugee settlement

• New Vision - Refugee women spared long treks as Adjumani water project cuts GBV risk

• The Washing Machine Project - (video) -

  • Inside Uganda’s Kyangwali Refugee Settlement

  • Inside Uganda’s Kyangwali Refugee Settlement💧🧺 - PART 2

Other:

• Africa Cities Journal - Understanding the motivation and processes of international migration into Ugandan cities

• AIRD - When Funding Falters, Lives Are at Risk: Stand with Refugees in Uganda

• Carleton University - Refugee-led organisations in Uganda - Agency, gender and politics of self-organising in Exile

• Centre for Global Development

  • The World Bank’s Window for Host Communities and Refugees: Successes, Challenges, and the Way Forward

  • The World Bank's Model for Refugees Is Working, but It Could Be Even Better

  • The World Bank’s Window for Host Communities and Refugees Successes, Challenges, and the Way Forward

• Centre for Multilateral Affairs - Gulf Conflict Shocks and the Future of Refugee Governance: Insights from Uganda’s Refugee Approach

• China Daily - China grants Uganda $1 million to support refugees amid funding shortfalls

• East African -  

  • Uganda’s generous open-door refugee policy is breaking down

  • Lawyers move to block US deportations to Uganda amid reports flight en route

• FEWS-Net - Uganda Key Message Update: High need exists among the large and still-growing refugee population, March - September 2026

• Global Issues - Fleeing Sudan's war, refugees rebuild their lives in Uganda

• GoU/UNHCR

  • Uganda Country Refugee Response Plan (UCRRP) -

    • Weekly Critical Indicator Tracking Matrix

      • (03/04/2026 - 09/04/2026)

      • 09 April 2026

      • 02 April 2026

      • 26 March 2026

    • Suicide Tracking Dashboard March 2026

    • Suicide Tracking Dashboard (February 2026)

    • Refugee Statistics March 2026

    • Refugee Statistics March 2026 - Settlement Profiles

    • Refugee Statistics March 2026 - Active Population by Settlement

    • Refugee Statistics Map March 2026

• Human Rights Research - In Uganda, Legal Groups Condemn Arrival of U.S. Deportees

• The Independent - SUIDAC program boosts Arua City’s refugee integration initiative

• Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies - ‘Data-driven’ vulnerability assessment tools and the quantification of refugee life in Uganda

• JRS - Supporting refugee hosting communities: a Ugandan girl benefits from a scholarship

• Monitor -

  • Kisoro courts urged to fast-track refugee trials as prison overcrowding rises

  • Unified sports, a glue that binds refugees

• MPI - (podcast) - First Displacement, then Disasters: How Refugees Contend with Climate Change

• New Vision

  • Onek asks UNHCR to address causes of refugee displacement

  • 600 Burundi refugees start voluntary repatriation

  • China extends sh37bn support to Uganda's refugee response

  • Partners call for recognition of urban refugees in Arua

  • Govt moves refugee registration to NIRA, unveils central portal on migration

  • How dialogue is fostering peace among refugees, host communities

• Nexus Media - Uganda: A Beacon of Hope in Africa’s Refugee Crisis

• Nile Post -

  • Uganda Raises Alarm Over Refugee Strain, Gender Violence

  • Uganda Prioritises Food Aid as Refugee Funding Gap Widens

  • Nakivale, Kyangwali Selected as Priority Settlements Under $1M Refugee Response Support

• NTV - (video) -

  • EU Initiative empowers local leadership to aid refugees in East Africa

  • Uganda proposes plan for voluntary refugee repatriation amid rising concerns

• Olympics - Rising beyond borders: young refugees in Uganda aim for Dakar 2026

• OPM - Refugee programmes boosting development – Hon. Onek

• REACH - Climate Hazards in Uganda’s Refugee-Hosting Districts. –

  • Obongi District (April 2026)

  • Isingiro District

  • Adjumani District

  • Kamwenge District

  • Kikuube District

  • Kiryandongo District

  • Koboko District

  • Lamwo District

  • Madi Okollo District

  • Terego District

  • Kyegegwa District

  • Yumbe District

• Refugees International - Uganda’s Generous Open-door Refugee Policy is Breaking Down

• U-Learn Uganda - (video) - Webinar: Translating Learning, Knowledge and Innovation interaction for the Humanitarian Response

• UN -

  • Fleeing Sudan's war, refugees rebuild their lives in Uganda

  • The United States Government provides UN Humanitarian Fund US$75 million for life‑saving aid in Uganda - Statement by the Resident Coordinator, Leonard Zulu

• UNHCR

  • Sudan situation

    • UNHCR Monthly External Update #115 - January 2026

    • Sudan Situation Map Weekly Regional Update

      • 10 Apr 2026

      • 20 Apr 2026

      • 27 Apr 2026

• CORE Sudan: Sudanese return from neighbouring countries -

  • 31 March 2026

  • 15 April 2026

• South Sudan Situation: UNHCR Monthly External Update

  • #9 - February 2026

  • #8 - January 2026

• UNHCR/IoM/MMC - Data-Driven Route-Based Approaches to Mixed Movements of Migrants and Refugees: Research and Response

• University of Dundee - Young refugees in Jordan and Uganda: A story map - Exploring education, work and livelihoods, aspirations for marriage, identity and belonging

• You Tube

  • (video) - Stories of suffering and hope from refugees at Kiryandongo refugee settlement in Uganda