Uganda Refugee News - July 2026

Sector specific:

EDUCATION

• CODE -

  • Reimagining the “Good Classroom” in the Ugandan Refugee Contexts: Assessing Strategies for Enhancing Learners' Literacy Skills and Classroom Practice

  • Playful Parenting for Early Learning in Crisis Contexts: Harnessing Policy Options from Uganda’s Refugee Response

• DevDiscourse - From “Incentives” to Insecurity: The Broken Economics of Refugee Teaching

• GoU/UNHCR - Uganda Refugee Response Plan (RRP) 2026-2030, Education Dashboard - Quarter 1 2026

• IRC - PlayMatters Uganda Enhances Teacher Practices and Wellbeing Using Learning through Play: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis

• JIIRE - Financing Early Childhood Development in Refugee settlements: Experiences from Kyangwarl Refugee Settlement, Uganda

• UKFIET - Educating under strain: teachers as shock-absorbers in an era of aid contraction

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

• Energy Nexus - An assessment of the Water-Energy-Food nexus in Bidibidi refugee settlement towards the design of sustainable energy technologies

• Independent -

  • Adjumani district comes top in climate-smart forest programme

  • FORESTS: TASLL and ECOTRUST reassure communities in northern Uganda

• Refugees International - Capacity-Building Convening for Refugee Leaders on Climate: Together towards Uganda’s National Adaptation Plan

• U-Learn Uganda - (video) - National Convener on Countering Land Degradation in the Uganda Refugee Response - a Recap

• Witness Radio - Uganda is grappling with mounting land struggles as the needs of refugees collide with the rights and hopes of the communities that host them.

 HEALTH

• Africa.com - Aid Cuts Threaten Healthcare for Uganda’s Refugees

• African Journal of Alcohol & Drug Abuse - An exploration of protective mechanisms against problematic alcohol drinking among refugee youth in Bidibidi refugee settlement in Uganda

• Cap Aids Uganda - A Beacon of Hope: How Amaryllis SHG is Transforming Refugee Lives in Kampala

• ERLHA -

  • Impact case study: Using phone-based technology to support COVID-19 responses in refugee settlements

  • Impact case study: Improving access to safe abortion in humanitarian settings in East Africa

• For Afrika - Project combats malnutrition amongst refugees in Uganda

• Global Health Action - Household food insecurity among refugees: examining variations across different climatic contexts in Ugandan refugee settlements

• GoU/UNHCR - Uganda Refugee Response:

• International Medical Case Reports Journal - Orbital Compression Syndrome Mimicking Severe Malaria in a Child with Sickle Cell Disease in a Ugandan Refugee Settlement: A Case Report

• Journal of Maternal and Child Health - Neonatal Mortality and Associated Factors among Neonates in Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement, Western Uganda

• Laboratorios Viñas - Laboratorios Viñas supports UNHCR’s actions for another year to improve the health of the refugee population in Uganda

• Microbiology Society - Antimicrobial resistance in Escherichia Coli isolated from diarrhoeal patient in Nakivale refugee settlements in Southwestern Uganda

• Nile Post - Food Cuts Linked to Rise in Suicides Among Men at Bidibidi Refugee Settlement

• Right to Play - (video) - How Game Connect is supporting refugees' mental health | Uganda

• Sustainable Development Goals in Africa - An Investigation of Maternal Depression and Child Health Among South Sudan Refugees in Palabek Settlement, Uganda

LIVELIHOODS & RESILIENCE

• All Africa - Refugee Women Entrepreneurs Seek More Support, Market Access for Products in Uganda

• AVSI - What makes graduation programming a success in extremely poor communities

• Borgen Project - How DREAMS for Refugees Provides Long-term Solutions

• DCA - Young Refugee Builds a Livelihood through Practical Fish Farming Training - When youth are equipped with practical skills it leads to employment, entrepreneurship and sustainable livelihoods.

• DevDiscourse - ILO forum pushes for better jobs in refugee-hosting countries - The forum is examining how education, vocational training and skills recognition can better match labour market needs.

• East African Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies - The Role of ARU Graduates in Advancing Youth Empowerment Goals through the URDT Institutes Skilling for Entrepreneurship and Dignified Work Project in Uganda’s Four Refugee Settlements

• EUNIC - Weaving Futures: Africa-Europe Creative Market Connections - Uganda

• The Independent -

  • SMALL PLOTS, BIG HARVESTS: How climate-smart farming is helping refugees feed their families

  • Here are the business opportunities hiding in refugee communities

• Joint Data Center - Building Business Networks to Strengthen Refugee Economic and Social Integration

• LWF - Uganda: Restoring choice and dignity for refugees and host communities - With a new EU grant, LWF Uganda is focused on ensuring that individuals and families living in vulnerable situations meet their daily needs without having to make impossible choices.

• MPI - Creating Inclusive Urban Economies for Migrants and Refugees

• New Vision -

  • How vegetable growing is helping refugees cope with aids cut

  • Refugee women seek markets to turn skills into livelihoods

• PeaceWinds America - Working with locals to improve living conditions in refugee camps in Uganda

• Response Innovation Lab -

  • Uganda | Challenge Mapping Convener on “Access to Land for Refugee and Host Communities in Uganda”

  • Uganda | Second Challenge Mapping Convener on “Access to Land for Refugee and Host Communities in Uganda”

• South Sudan's Truth - (video) - Farming as a Refugee in Uganda.

• UBC Television Uganda - (video) - Refugees Turn to Climate-Smart Farming as Food Aid Declines

• Uganda Radio Network -

  • Small Plots, Big Harvests: How Climate-Smart Farming is Helping Refugees Feed Their Families

  • Drama Group Transforming Young Refugees' Lives in Kyaka II

  • Kiryandongo Refugees Acquire Vocational Skills, Get Start-up Kits

• U-Learn -

  • Private Sector Engagement

    • In Agriculture in the Uganda Refugee Response – Summary

    • Learnings from the Five Private Sector Engagement Case Studies - The Full Report with all Partnership Case Studies

    • Case Study

      • SWISSCONTACT and BIRYA INC Partnership - Boosting incomes for farmers in the dried beans supply chain Nakivale, Isingiro

      • SWISSCONTACT and ERYMAG Partnership -

        Boosting economic productivity through expanding agricultural trade networks Lamwo, Palabek

    • GRAMEEN and Rural Financial Initiative (RUFI) Partnership -PALABEK, LAMWO

    • GRAMEEN and UGAFODE - Digitising savings groups and offering tailored financial service products Nakivale, Isingiro

  • Graduation into what? The refugee journey into self-reliance. A comparative study from Kyangwali refugee settlement in Uganda

• UNCDF - How refugees in Uganda are rewriting their financial stories: two stories of determination and hope

• UNHCR

  • Livelihoods and resilience sector working group (LRSWG) Meeting with the Commissioner, OPM-Department of Refugees - Meeting Minutes | 15 April 2026

  • Livelihoods and resilience sector working group (LRSWG) Meeting Minutes | 17 June 2026

• URRI - A Garden that Changed more than the Family Menu

• VanGuard News - ILO leads African drive to end barriers to refugee employment

• VedCo - Skilling Youth for Sustainable Livelihoods in Refugee Hosting Communities, Uganda - The project builds youth skills, work experience, access to financial services, and voice with local government and private sector actors.

• Virginia Tech - What We Have Learned from Studies of Refugees and Displaced Populations in Developing Countries

• You Tube -

  • Congolese refugee in Uganda turns banana waste into shopping bags

  • Forum explores jobs as a solution for refugees

PROTECTION

• Gou/UNHCR - Child Protection Fact Sheet - May 2026

• What makes you tick - (video) - Uganda Refugee Crisis: Empowering Women Survivors #shorts

WASH

• ChildFund Uganda -

  • New 'jerrybags' ease water burden for refugee schoolchildren in Northern Uganda

  • A backpack innovation supporting children carry less and learn more

• Global Agriculture - Circular Water And Food Systems For Livelihoods And Peacebuilding In Refugee-hosting Landscapes

• Tidskriften VATTEN - Commissioning of an emergency faecal sludge treatment plant in Imvepi, Uganda

Other:

• African Business - Many refugee camps are unliveable – here’s what needs to happen - Millions are returning home even when not safe to do so simply because conditions in refugee camps are becoming increasingly unliveable.

• Architecture Live -  Creating Belonging Through Architecture: Hassel on Bidi Bidi

• Comparative Migration Studies Article - Conflict, drought, and displacement: determinants of return intentions among South Sudanese refugees

• Compassion - Seeking Refuge: A Refugee in Uganda Finds Hope for Her Family - After fleeing conflict in Sudan, Elizabeth and her family, including her son Dominic, found refuge in Uganda. But life in the Ugandan refugee camp was treacherous and limiting. When Compassion opened a pilot program to support displaced children, the family found a new kind of refuge.

• East African Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies - Beyond Borders: Migration Patterns and Surveillance Gaps at the West Nile Uganda-Democratic Republic of the Congo Border Entry Points

• Every Shelter - (video) - “The Work of Home” - A short-form docu-series from inside the Refugee Settlements where refugees, architects, and builders are rethinking how shelter becomes home.

• FEWS-Net - Uganda Food Security Outlook: Needs to remain high among refugees and poor households in Karamoja, June 2026 - January 2027

• Geeska - Women, volleyball and Kiryandongo

• GoU -

  • The Uganda Roadmap on Anticipatory Action (2026–2031)

  • CRRF Uganda - Annual Report - 2025

• GoU/UNHCR

  • Overview of refugees and asylum-seekers (As of 30 June 2026)

  • Population Dashboard -

    • Annex I - Active population by settlement (30-June-2026) 

    • Annex II - Map - Refugees and Asylum Seekers (30-June-2026)

    • Annex III - Settlement Profiles (30-June-2026)

    • Weekly Critical Indicator Tracking Matrix -

• The Guardian - Less drugs, less care, less food: how aid cuts have hit Uganda’s 2m refugees - Africa’s largest refugee population has seen rations and healthcare slashed as funding levels drop

• Human Rights Research - Structural Violence and Human Rights Gaps in Uganda's Refugee Settlements

• Informer East Africa - Africa Forum launches regional dialogue on decent work and forced displacement

• Journal of Internal Displacement - Governing Refugee Mobility - Contrasting Genealogies of Encampment in Uganda and Kenya (1930s to 1990s)

• Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development - ‘When I go meet my parents, which language am I going to speak with them?’: tensions between language-in-education policy and programming, and refugee families’ multilingualism in exile

• Migration Policy Institute - Refugees in the City: How Humanitarian Migration Transforms Urban Areas

• Monitor - Top OPM refugee officials sent to Luzira over abuse of office

• New.AZ - Uganda launches emergency food distribution after 19 hunger deaths

• New Vision -

  • OPM Refugee Commissioner charged with abuse of office, remanded

  • Uganda to establish new refugee settlement in Kitgum

• Nile Post

  • Minister Engola to Engage Eritrea Over Rising Refugee Numbers to Uganda

  • Obongi Faces Service Pressure as Refugee Population Nearly Doubles Host Community

• Nottingham Trent University -

  • Localising national gender and climate policy in Uganda: evidence portfolio

  • Localising climate and gender policy in Uganda: policy brief

  • Localising climate and gender policy in Adjumani District, Uganda: women refugees at the frontlines of climate crisis (policy brief 2)

• The Observer - Aid crisis threatens Uganda’s refugees

• ODI -

  • Refugee camps: current practice and historical perspectives

  • What refugee-led organisations teach us about measuring impact in displacement settings

• Radboud Universiteit - Women Doing It All: Displacement and Gender Roles within the Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement, Uganda

• Radio Dabanga - 80 Sudanese leave Uganda on voluntary return flight

• The refugee Archive - Assets, Not Victims: The Untold Strength of Refugee and Displaced Woman

• Refugees International - Delivering on Uganda’s Refugee Model

• Refugee Survey Quarterly - Policy Coherence Enigma and Historical Amnesia in Economically Inclusive Solutions for Protracted Refugees: The Cases of Kenya and Uganda

• SoS Burundi - Nakivale : “Prepare for the mass return,” the message that is alarming Burundian refugees

• Sustainable Development Goals in Africa - Livelihood Dynamics of Urban Refugees in Uganda: Evidence from Congolese and Somalis in Kampala

• UBC Television Uganda - (video) - Refugee Support Under Strain as Funding Declines

• Uganda Radio Network - Nakivale Cultural Festival Promotes Coexistence as Refugee Population Grows

• UNFPA - UNFPA recognizes young Ugandans using innovation to transform lives and communities

• UNHCR

  • From lived experience to policy change: Refugee-led organisations shaping solutions across Eastern Africa

  • Uganda Country Refugee Response Plan - Detailed planning 2026-2030

  • UNHCR Regional Bureau for Eastern and Southern Africa:

    • Localization Brief (July 2026)

    • Gender Equality Annual Report - 2025

    • PROGRAMME: PROSPECTS 2.0 -

      • GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNT

      • GENDER EQUALITY TIP SHEET

      • DISABILITY INCLUSION TIP SHEET

      • ACCOUNTABILITY TO AFFECTED POPULATIONS (AAP) TIPSHEET

  • Regional Dashboard RBESA:

    • Refugees and asylum-seekers by country of asylum as of 30 June 2026

    • Refugees, returnees and internally displaced persons in the IGAD region - 30 June 2026

    • Refugees, returnees and internally displaced persons in the EAC region - 30 June 2026

  • Uganda: 22nd Refugee Engagement Forum Meeting

  • Uganda: 23rd Refugee Engagement Forum Meeting

  • Uganda: 24th Refugee Engagement Forum

  • Inter-Agency We.Link formerly (Feedback, Referral, and Resolution Mechanism - FRRM) Newsletter - June 2026

  • Inter-Agency We.Link formerly (Feedback, Referral, and Resolution Mechanism - FRRM) Newsletter - May 2026

  • UNHCR Magazine 2025: Holding the Line in 2025 – Delivering Protection in a Year of Hard Choices

• UNICEF - UNICEF News Issue 8 - UNICEF Uganda Newsletter, April - June 2026

• World Vision -  Sudan refugees find safety in Uganda

  
  

Events, calls etc

•  Past (with recording)

  • ODI - Embracing the ecosystem: a discussion of the findings of the Advisory Panel on the Future of Humanitarian Action