United States Donates $75 Million to UN Humanitarian Fund for Life-Saving Aid in Uganda
KAMPALA, 29 April 2026 – The United States government has provided US$75 million to support life-saving humanitarian assistance for refugees, host communities, and people affected by severe acute malnutrition and a measles outbreak in Uganda.
The funding, channeled through the Eastern and Southern Africa Humanitarian Fund and managed by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), will enable humanitarian partners—including UN agencies and international and national NGOs—to deliver food, nutrition, health, protection, shelter, water, sanitation, and hygiene assistance across the country.
“On behalf of the humanitarian community in Uganda, I would like to thank the people and government of the United States of America for this significant contribution,” said Leonard Zulu, UN Resident Coordinator in Uganda. “The life-saving needs of close to 2 million refugees and vulnerable communities in Uganda are very high. This support will go a long way in being truly life-saving, and we welcome other countries to contribute to the fund.”
Worsening Humanitarian Crisis
Uganda faces a deteriorating humanitarian situation driven by drought, sustained regional displacement, and rising vulnerability among refugees and host communities—particularly in drought-affected Karamoja. The country hosts more than 2 million refugees and continues to receive new arrivals while contending with floods, landslides, cross-border instability, and chronic service gaps.
These pressures are worsening food insecurity and placing severe strain on already overstretched public systems.
Targeted Allocation
In Karamoja, the allocation will help address acute malnutrition and mortality risks among children. In refugee-hosting districts and for newly arriving refugees, the funding will sustain health, food security, nutrition, protection, and water services—reducing the risk of further deterioration of essential services and preventing avoidable deaths among the most vulnerable.
The Uganda Humanitarian Fund mechanism ensures effective delivery of critical assistance with robust financial oversight, transparency, accountability, and coherent coordination within the established humanitarian architecture.
The funding will sustain critical services and frontline response capacity during exceptional financial constraints while complementing the Government of Uganda’s significant efforts in hosting Africa’s largest refugee population.
Activities will be implemented through continued strategic and operational coordination under the wider humanitarian response, particularly the Uganda Country Refugee Response Plan.
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