Uganda Refugee News - May 2026

Sector specific:

EDUCATION

• ACCORD - Why Digital Access Matters for Refugee Girls in Conflict Settings

• Analyzer Uganda - (video) - Education stakeholders validate competency-based training curricula

• East African Journal of Arts and Social Sciences - Diversity Issues Among the Refugee Populations in the Selected Higher Education Institutions in Uganda: A Student Perspective

• Explorer - From War-torn Congo to Silicon Valley: How Uganda’s Refugee Education Policy Changed a Life

• FCA - FCA and UNHCR-Supported Refugee Students Graduate from Universities in Italy - Three years ago, they shared their thoughts on uncertainty, hope and the fear of leaving for a distant country to pursue their studies. Last month, their journey reached an important milestone in Italy.

• The Independent - Visually impaired student’s journey and the impact of girls empowering programme

• Monitor - Missing piece of paper no more: New Cambridge-backed qualification to unlock higher education for Uganda’s refugee youth

• Muni University - Classroom factors and learners’ academic performance in primary schools in Palorinya refugee settlement in Obongi district, Uganda

• Save the Children - European Union Provides Additional €3 Million to Strengthen Education Access for Refugee and Host Community Children in Uganda

• UNHCR - UNHCR Uganda - Education Integration Cost Plan 2025

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

• Adra - ADRA Uganda Distributes Solar-Powered Irrigation Systems to 120 Farmers in Kyaka II Refugee Settlement

• AIRD -

  • Powering Hope in Palorinya: Harriet’s Journey Through the Remote Roads of Refugee Response

  • Against the Mud, For Humanity: Fueling Life in Kyangwali Refugee Settlement

• All Africa - Adra Uganda, UBA Bank partner to support fruit tree, woodlot planting in Lamwo

• Lut University - Possibilities of circular economy in just energy transition in countries with refugee populations in Sub-Saharan Africa

• New Vision - One million refugees to benefit from Sh 85bn clean cooking, reforestation project 

• Nile Post - ADRA Uganda, UBA Bank Partner to Support Fruit Tree, Woodlot Planting in Lamwo

• NTV Uganda - (video) - Climate-smart project boosts livelihoods around Uganda’s protected forests

• Science Direct - Skeletons in the closet: Why humanitarian energy projects fail and how we can learn from them

• U-Learn - (video) - Energy & Climate in the Uganda Refugee Response

• Virginia Tech - Trees, Forests, and Refugee Displacement in Northwest Uganda

HEALTH

• BMC Health - Attempted suicide: lived experiences of refugees in Rhino Camp, West Nile, Uganda

• Center for Global Health Equity - (video) - Male-Engaged Group Family Planning in Nakivale Refugee Settlement,

• Discover Psychology - Trauma exposure, posttraumatic stress disorder, resilience and posttraumatic growth among refugees in Kyaka II settlement, Western Uganda

• Georgian Medical Journal - Health Entitlement Index for Refugees and Migrants: A Comparative Analysis Across 41 Countries

• IRC - Meet the volunteers protecting refugees in Uganda from deadly outbreaks

• Intersections of Sexual Health, Migration and Sexualised Violence -

  • Cervical Cancer Prevention Among Refugees and Displaced Persons: New Opportunities to Reach the Underserved

  • Advancing an Understanding of Relational Contexts of Depression with Urban Refugee Youth in Kampala, Uganda

  • Interwoven Realities: Sexualised Violence, Health, and Migration in a Changing World

• Jama Network - Global Aid Cuts and Local Health Consequences in Nakivale Refugee Settlement, Uganda

• The Lancet - Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health–Lancet Commission on health, conflict, and forced displacement: health in a world of crises and impunity

• New Vision - Refugees stretch Yumbe health services to breaking point

• Nutrition - Household income sources and mobility drivers of dietary diversity among refugees with hypertension and/or type 2 diabetes in Bidibidi Settlement, Uganda

• OPM - OPM conducts health camp in Nakivale Settlement, prays for upgrade of Health center III

• Research Square - Prevalence and Associated Factors of Preeclampsia Among Expectant Mothers in Imvepi Refugee Settlement, Terego District 

• Tropical Medicine and Health - Evaluation of the diagnostic capacity for neglected tropical diseases in a refugee settlement in Uganda: a cross-sectional study

• UBC - (video) - OPM Outreach Boosts HIV Screening | Health Campaign Reaches 1,300+ in Nakivale Refugee Settlement

• UNC Health - A Malaria Prevention Innovation Designed for Refugee Settings

• UNHCR - Danish private sector and philanthropic partners invest $28 million in refugee health with UNHCR

• Washington University - Tailoring community antiretroviral therapy delivery to the needs and preferences of people living with HIV in refugee settlements in Uganda

• YouTube - Male-Engaged Group Family Planning in Nakivale Refugee Settlement

LIVELIHOODS & RESILIENCE

• ADRA - ADRA Uganda Conducts Monitoring Visit to Bidibidi Refugee Settlement

• AVSI - Rethinking agricultural extension in refugee and host communities: the private sector advantage

• COU Family TV - (videos) -

  • Refugees in Kyaka II Gain Hope Through Loans & Financial Literacy Programs

  • Equity Bank Visits Refugee Settlements | Refugees Call for Better Services in Nakivale

  • Equity Bank Deepens Financial Inclusion Drive in Rwamwanja Refugee Settlement

  • Equity Bank Brings Hope to Refugees in Kyaka II Through Loans & Financial Literacy

• DevDiscourse - Uganda’s Refugee Model Praised Globally but Faces Reality Check on Self-Reliance

• Global South & Sustainable Development - Settlement Opportunity and Community Finance in Refugee Livelihoods: Evidence from Northern Uganda

• Humanities and social sciences communications - Participation and learning: a quasi-experimental examination of refugee settlement program and its impacts on refugees’ socioeconomic capabilities

• Ideas - Uganda's Pioneer Refugee Model : Advances in Inclusion, Self-Reliance, and Pathways Forward

• IDLO - When the locks changed: how legal aid restored a refugee mother's home and livelihood in Uganda

• ILO -

  • ILO-supported skills recognition initiative in Uganda opens pathways to decent work for refugees and host communities

  • Closing the gap: Labour rights, documentation and decent work for refugee and host community youth in Uganda

• The Independent - Refugees turn to kitchen gardens to fight malnutrition

• Monitor - Cashless fintech project management model extended to refugee settlements

• New Vision -

  • Magyezi lauds refugees for embracing agriculture

  • New qualification aim to unlock jobs for Ugandan refugees

• The Next Century Foundation - Refugee Integration and the Right to Work

• PML Daily - Skills certification programme transforms livelihoods for refugees and host communities in Uganda

• Wiley - Effects of Unconditional Cash Transfers on Asset Accumulation Among Low‐Income Households in Rural Northern Uganda

• U-Learn -

  • (video) - Financial Inclusion in the Uganda Refugee Response

  • (video) - Self Reliance in the Uganda Refugee Response

  • Private Sector Engagement in the Agriculture Sector in the Uganda Refugee Response

• World Bank - Uganda's Pioneer Refugee Model : Advances in Inclusion, Self-Reliance, and Pathways Forward (English)

• You Tube - (video) - Equity Bank Deepens Financial Inclusion Drive in Rwamwanja Refugee Settlement

Other:

• African Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue and Peacebuilding - Uganda as Refugee Host: Policy Frameworks, Burden Sharing, and Local Integration: Human Rights and Governance Considerations

• Busitema University - Information Behaviour of Refugees in North Western Uganda: Examining Approaches to Information Seeking and Use Behaviour Patterns Among South Sudanese Refugees

• DRC - Narrowing Horizons: Contingencies, coping practices and conflict handling among South Sudanese refugees after aid cuts

• EDN - The Launch of the Research on Refugee Integration in Uganda

• FEWS-Net - Uganda Key Message Update: Need remains high among refugees; fuel costs threaten to increase food prices, April - September 2026

• FTS -

  • Uganda 2026 - Country Summary

  • Uganda 2026 - Country Data

• GoU/UNHCR

  • Overview of Refugees and Asylum Seekers - April 2026

  • Annex I - Refugee Statistics April 2026 - Active Population by Settlement

  • Annex II - Refugee Statistics Map April 2026

  • Annex III - Refugee Statistics April 2026 - Settlement Profiles

  • Refugee Arrival Movement Monitoring Dashboard

• GSMA - Mobile Data for Humanitarian Action: Pathways to Sustained and Responsible Use

• Handbook on International Migration and Social Networks - Networks in motion: the role of social ties in refugee transit, settlement, and organizational life in Uganda

• IJF - Judo Against Despair: Sabiti’s Mission in Nakivale Refugee Settlement

• Internet Society -

  • From Email to Case Study: What We Learned About Connecting Refugee Communities in Just One Year

  • Community-Centered Connectivity in Rhino Camp Refugee Settlement, Uganda - An Internet Society Case Study

• Monitor

  • Sovereignty Bill undermines responses to refugees' welfare, West Nile leaders say

  • EU bails Arua City from urban refugee stress

  • Uganda secures $6m Japan support for refugee response amid funding crisis

  • Living in exile: How Arua struggles to settle in urban refugees

• New Humanitarian - Moving beyond “victimhood” in the localisation debate - “When growth becomes the dominant measure of success, and funding the primary lens of progress, there is a risk that attention shifts away from the original purpose of localisation.”

• New Vision

  • JICA empowers refugee girls through football

  • Uganda's refugee market valued at Sh17 trillion - IFC report

  • Parliament rejects report on refugees 

  • Kyangwali refugee settlement overwhelmed by influx of refugees

  • Uganda risks losing opportunity to host AU Humanitarian agency

  • Aringa Kingdom govt hatch plan to ease refugee-host tension in Yumbe District 

  • Uganda boosts refugee-host community cooperation and dialogue

  • Refugees: Uganda is resource constrained says Museveni

• Nile Post - China Steps Up Support for Nakivale Refugees

• NTV Uganda - (video) - Japan injects USD6m in Uganda’s refugee program

• Oxfam Canada - Stronger together: Observations from a week visiting Ugandan refugee settlements

• PBS News - (video) - Uganda's open-door refugee policy under strain as regional conflicts intensify

• Perlego - Refugee-Led Organizations in Uganda - Agency, Gender, and Politics of Self-Organizing in Exile

• Philanthropy.com - LEGO Foundation Gives $97M for Kids in Conflict Zones

• ProQuest - “Unheard Stories”: Music and Dance Among South Sudanese Ma’di Refugee Women in Adjumani, Uganda

• SIHMA - Refugees integration in Uganda: Perspective of Refugees, stakeholders and the Host community

• SOAS - The Politics of Uganda’s Refugee Policy: Authoritarian Governance and the Limits of “Progressive” Refugee Hosting

• SOS Medias Burundi - Nakivale (Uganda) : the birth registration campaign hampered by the refugees’ mistrust

• TRT Afrika - Uganda’s open door and the enduring power of African solidarity - By welcoming those in need and enabling them to rebuild their lives, Uganda affirms a timeless truth: nations are strengthened not by exclusion, but by the courage to include.

• Uganda Radio Network - Refugees in Koboko Demand Equal Access to Services and Economic Opportunities

• U-Learn -

  • (video) - Evidence Uptake in the Uganda Refugee Response

  • (video) - Shifting Trends in the Uganda Refugee Response

  • Community Priorities Qualitative Assessment Report

  • Uganda’s Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework – Annual report 2025

• UNHCR

  • Regional Bureau for Eastern and Southern Africa

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

    • Refugees and asylum-seekers by country of asylum as of 31 March 2026

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

    • Refugees, returnees and internally displaced persons in the IGAD region - 31 March 2026

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

    • Refugees, returnees and internally displaced persons in the EAC region - 31 March 2026

• UNICEF - Locally made fun in a Ugandan refugee settlement - Cardboard, boxes, cans and cloth get a second life as playthings for refugee children in Uganda.

• Voice of Bugerere - Uganda Strengthens Refugee–Host Community Partnership Amid Rising Humanitarian Challenges

• You Tube - Rural Village Refugee Settlement Africa

Events, calls etc

• Uganda Refugee Support, Empowerment and Transformation (ReSET) Project: call for proposals - British High Commission in Kampala is seeking concept notes from partners to address humanitarian needs and build resilience among refugees and host communities in Uganda. The total fund is up to £20 million over 2.5 years (August 2026 to March 2029). The deadline to submit concept notes is 11.59pm (East Africa Time) on 16 June 2026.

• IGAD - CALL FOR PAPERS: 2026 Evidence to Policy Symposium Advancing Refugee Economic Inclusion in East Africa - Submission deadline: 30th June