Update of humanitarian situation
Uganda is situated in a fluid and fragile neighbourhood. By mid-2013, the country was responding to new refugee inflows of over 120,000 from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), as well as ongoing movements from neighbouring South Sudan; extensive flooding in the western DRC/ Uganda border regions; peacebuilding and recovery needs in the Acholi sub-region; and significant nutrition, health, water and sanitation concerns in Karamoja, the most underdeveloped and vulnerable part of the country.
With 66,000 new DRC refugees registered 11-14 July in the Bundibugyo district, the number of Congolese seeking asylum in Uganda quickly doubled. Elsewhere in the southwest of the country, another 65,000 Congolese who fled earlier in the year have been transferred to settlements, leaving a small number in the two transit centres of Nyakabande and Matanda. In addition, approximately 15,000 Congolese are being hosted by Ugandan communities in Kisoro district along the remote DRC/Uganda border.
With recurring violence and continued uncertainty over peace negotiations between the DRC Government and the Congolese militia group M23, refugees from Congo’s Kivu regions are likely continue to cross into Uganda through the multiple border entry points. The majority are fleeing as a precaution to lingering uncertainty as well as general insecurity marked by looting, physical and sexual assault, alleged abductions, and inter-militia clashes.
Simultaneously, heavy rainfall in April and May 2013 led to widespread flooding in parts of western Uganda.
Approximately 25,000 people were affected when two rivers overflowed their banks in Kasese district. The district endured extensive damage to the basic social service infrastructure including health centres and schools.
