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UNICEF Uganda Humanitarian Situation Report - October 2019

Countries
Uganda
+ 5 more
Sources
UNICEF
Publication date

Highlights

  • According to the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) and UNHCR, a total of 14,909 new refugees arrived in Uganda in September from South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Burundi, bringing Uganda’s total refugee and asylum-seeking population to 1.36 million.1

  • UNICEF reached over 2,900 households impacted by flooding in Eastern Uganda this month with water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) supplies and Communication for Development (C4D) materials on cholera prevention.

  • Through the nationwide mass measles-rubella (MR) vaccination campaign, which took place from 16 to 22 October, the Ministry of Health, WHO, UNICEF and partners reached 19,425,918 children including in refugee settlements.

  • UNICEF continues to intensify risk communication and social mobilization activities, as well as interventions on infection prevention and control (IPC) through WASH, child protection, and nutrition.
    UNICEF and partners reached an additional 54,610 people through direct interpersonal engagement during house-to-house visits and community meetings in 10 high-risk districts, bringing the total number of people reached with key messages to 706,516.

Situation Overview and Humanitarian Needs

Refugees

Uganda continues to host the largest number of refugees in Africa, with over 1.36 million refugees and asylum-seekers within its borders, according to UNHCR and the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM).1 Of those, 854,859 are from South Sudan, 389,276 from DRC, 44,611 from Burundi, and nearly 74,000 from Somalia, Rwanda and other nearby countries. Sixty-one per cent of Uganda’s refugee population – or over 830,000 persons – are children. The average daily influx in October included 70 persons from South Sudan and 130 from DRC, compared to September arrivals of 29 and 168, respectively.

Disease Outbreaks

As of 31 October, there were no reported Ebola virus disease (EVD) cases or contacts under follow-up. Nevertheless, Uganda continues to be at very high risk of EVD importation from DRC. The last confirmed EVD case was reported in Kasese district on 29 August 2019. On 11 October, Uganda marked 42 days since the death of the last confirmed case, and declared the EVD outbreak officially over. During the reporting period, 7,945 frontline health workers, contacts, and their contacts in 14 districts had been vaccinated against EVD. Uganda currently has only 240 doses of Ebola vaccine that are reserved for immediate response to another EVD outbreak. The National Task Force (NTF) on outbreaks, district task forces (DTFs) in high-risk districts and their sub-committees, and the United Nations EVD team continue to meet to review the EVD situation and coordinate related preparedness and response activities. However, the frequency of the meetings has declined partly because of other priorities and growing fatigue.

On 21 October 2019, a delegation led by the Minister of Health (MoH) participated in the High-Level Ministerial Meeting on Cross-Border Collaboration between Uganda and DRC. The delegation also included the WHO Representative, Uganda Immigration Services, and Uganda Red Cross Society. The meeting led to the finalization of the bilateral Memorandum of Understanding between Uganda and DRC on cross-border collaboration for EVD and other public health events. In addition, NTF approved the organization of another cross-border meeting scheduled to take place on 5 November 2019 to strengthen risk communication and community engagement. The meeting will be conducted under the leadership of the district local governments of Kasese (Uganda) and Kasindi (DRC), with support from OPM, WHO, UNICEF Uganda, and UNICEF DRC.