The Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ms Beate Meinl, has called on International community to consider financing Uganda’s refugee response amid hard economic times, noting that the East African nation hosts one of the largest numbers of refugees in the world.
“The international community should recognise how important it is to further support Uganda and strengthen the refugee response. I will convey to my country that we need to continue with refugee support,” Ms Meinl said amid a thunderous applause from the urban refugees who were present during her visit to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Kansanga access centre, Kampala.
Ms Meinl, who was flanked by Uganda’s Commissioner for refugees in the Office of the Prime Minister, Mr Patrick Okello, the Austrian ambassador to Uganda, Ms Yvonne Katja and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees staff, commended Uganda for the open-door policy and noted that the country needs a boost to accommodate the swelling number of refugees.
Available records indicate that Uganda hosts 1,955,370 refugees and asylum seekers, the majority of whom are women and children.
The continuous aid cuts are frustrating Uganda’s refugee response efforts amid refugee influx from the neighbouring war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Sudan, among others.
Ms Meinl disclosed that through the Federal Agency for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid, Austrian Development Agency (ADA), and the Foreign Disaster Fund, Austria has provided humanitarian assistance worth about 120 million euros since 2004 to mitigate humanitarian crises across the globe.
In Uganda, she said Austria’s humanitarian commitment is implemented through UN agencies and Civil Society, noting that ADA has contributed 4.1 million euros to the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) assistance to UNHCR in Uganda between 2024 and 2025.
The WASH interventions aim to increase access to clean drinking water within the 13 refugee settlements across Uganda and ensure dignified conditions and sanitation services to the refugees.
According to her, the ADA financial contribution, funds 65 percent of the prioritised critical WASH needs of UNHCR Uganda and benefits 1,217,250 people, 941000 refugees and asylum seekers, in addition to 276250 host community members.
Ms Katja said Austria remains deeply committed to refugee protection and humanterian assistance as a shared global responsibility.
Ms Joyce Lawa, a single mother of four and an urban refugee from South Sudan who has lived in Kampala for close to 10 years appealed to the government of Uganda to consider offering jobs to refugees who are professionals so that they can easily make ends meet.
Ms Lawa noted that her efforts to acquire a degree in Business Administration from Makerere University Business School (MUBs) are still fruitless given that her attempts to search for a formal job have been in vain.
“We have refugees who are teachers, medical doctors, engineers, among other professions but it is not easy for us to get jobs. Besides, the process of certifying our academic documents is not an easy one,” Ms Lawa said.
Mr Patrick Okello, the Commissioner for Refugees in the Office of the Prime Minister said Uganda’s open door policy has seen refugees enjoy more or less rights as citizens.
“They have a right to work when they qualify for specific professions. Those who have qualifications in courses like medicine and engineering, among others. We normally advise them to take their papers to the National Council of Higher Education (NCHE) for certification and upon certification of documents, they can compete for the available jobs like any other person,” Mr Okello clarified.
He also noted that the government is supporting refugees to be self-reliant by encouraging them to explore different sources of income.