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UNICEF Uganda Humanitarian Situation Report No. 4 - July - August 2022

Países
Uganda
+ 3
Fuentes
UNICEF
Fecha de publicación

Highlights

• UNICEF, WFP and district local governments embarked on nutrition mass screenings in the Karamoja sub-region. A total of 294,859 children have been screened for malnutrition as of August 2022.

• UNICEF with its partners have provided treatment to 29,357 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition during the reporting period.

• Uganda Ministry of Health (MoH) declared the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) - Sudan strain outbreak on September 20, 2022 following a positive test result for one adult male in Mubende district.

• In August, flooding displaced over 2,611 people and affected 24,000 people in Eastern Uganda through the disruption of livelihood activities and the destruction of homes, crops, and infrastructures.

• UNICEF’s Humanitarian Action for Children (HAC) 2022 is only 44 per cent funded.

Funding overview and partnerships

In 2022, UNICEF is appealing for US$25 million to sustain life-saving services for women and children in Uganda. As of September 2022, the UK Government through the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO), the German Committee for UNICEF, the Government of Iceland, , the Netherlands Committee for UNICEF, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), the Spanish Committee for UNICEF and United States Fund for UNICEF have generously contributed over US$10.9 million to UNICEF Uganda's humanitarian response. In addition, UNICEF has funds carried over from 2021 totaling US$859,000. UNICEF expresses its sincere gratitude to all partners for the contributions received.
Unfortunately, the 2022 Humanitarian Action for Children (HAC) remains with a funding gap of 56 per cent.

Situation overview and humanitarian needs

COVID-19

Uganda has so far registered 168,891 cases of COVID-19 and 3,628 reported deaths (for a case fatality rate of 2.1 per cent) as of August 2022. While reports of COVID-19 infections continued during the reporting period, they were not significant enough for Uganda to declare a fourth wave. The general situation between July and August has shown continued reductions in new cases in districts with the highest incidence rates (Kampala, Wakiso, Mbarara, Tororo,
Mukono, Adjumani, Jinja, and Gulu), as well as reductions in deaths (with two COVID-related deaths reported in August 2022).

As of 22 August 2022, a total of 12,564,051 people (or 57 per cent of the target population) have been fully vaccinated for COVID-19, while 18,409,031 (or 80 per cent of the target population) have received at least one dose. The Ministry of Health (MoH) and its partners, including UNICEF, are drafting a COVID-19 stabilisation response plan for Uganda with a focus on vaccinating the missed target groups while opening up vaccination to children between the ages of 5 and 17.

Other disease outbreaks

Uganda Ministry of Health (MoH) declared the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) - Sudan strain outbreak on September 20, 2022 following a positive test result for one adult male in Mubende district on September 19, 2022. The case was locally developed, not imported. Subsquent updates will be provided in the next update.

Hydrometeorological hazards

According to the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) and the International Organization for Immigration (IOM),in 2022, a cumulative total of 92,444 people (24,000 affected in August only) were affected by floods, landslides, and hail storms during the reporting period, 42 per cent of whom were children. Of those affected, a total of 13,451 (2,611 displaced in August only) individuals were displaced internally.

Food insecurity in the Karamoja sub-region

UNICEF Uganda engaged in the design and implementation of the Food Security Nutrition Assessment (FSNA) for refugee-hosting districts as well as in the Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) analysis for acute malnutrition in JulyAugust 2022. The final results from the IPC analysis are expected in September 2022. Following the preliminary IPC analysis results, UNICEF, the WFP, and District Local Governments (DLGs) embarked on a door-to-door mass screening exercise to identify affected households with a specific focus on vulnerable children. A total of 203,301 children were screened for malnutrition during the reporting period. The data from the districts revealed that acute malnutrition levels remain critical across the region (with Kotido at 25 per cent, Nabilatuk at 23 per cent, and Kaabong at 22 per cent).Integrated community outreaches have increased the enrollment of malnourished children in therapeutic care. To date, a total of 17,388 out of the targeted 23,000 children were found with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and have been enrolled in care, representing 75.6 per cent of all children identified with SAM. Support for integrated community outreaches and referrals has been extended to the six Karamoja districts of Nabilatuk, Napak, Kotido,
Kaabong, Moroto and Amudat. These have concluded their mass-screening exercises.

The population in need in Karamoja exceeds the caseload reached with humanitarian food and nutrition assistance provided thus far2 . While harvests temporarily improved food consumption, given the below average crop production, above average prices, and below-average income-earning, households will likely continue to face food consumption gaps and crisis outcomes (IPC Phase 3) even in the post-harvest period.3 Area-level Crisis (IPC Phase 3) outcomes are expected to persist through at least January 2023, with worst affected households in Emergency (IPC Phase 4).4 Levels of acute malnutrition remain atypically high in many areas.5

Refugees

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and OPM, 6 Uganda is home to over 1,525,197 refugees and asylum-seekers as of August 2022, of whom 52 per cent are female and over 58 per cent are children. 7 Uganda has received over 89,000 new arrivals as of August 2022 fleeing conflict and persecution in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The 15 existing reception and transit facilities receiving new arrivals across the country have the capacity to host a maximum of 20,760 new arrivals for a short stay. They are currently overcrowded, risking disease outbreaks and other protection concerns.

There is a potential for an increase in cases of measles and AWD/cholera, especially in populations on the move. In a worst-case scenario, the area could see another substantial Ebola outbreak. (On 21 August 2022, the DRC’s Minister of Public Health confirmed that a forty-six-year-old woman died of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) at Beni Health Zone general hospital in the province of North Kivu.)