Uganda (Nakivale)

UNHCR is committed to saving, building and connecting lives in the Nakivale Refugee Settlement. Your donations have allowed UNHCR to provide emergency relief and shelter for new refugee arrivals and to help them build a better life for themselves and their communities.

The emergency: Nakivale is one of Africa's oldest refugee settlements. Many refugee families have been forced to flee violent conflict in the DRC, yet while they have found a safe refuge in Nakivale, resources are becoming increasingly stretched.  Many young people have lived most of their lives in the settlement, and are unlikely to return to their homeland in the near future. As more and more people seek refuge here, infrastructure and resource are becoming increasingly stretched. Urgent action is needed to improve critical services such as healthcare, water and education.

UNHCR's role: UNHCR is currently working to save, build and connect thousands of lives, and offer real hope for the future. UNHCR is focusing on building programs and raising funds in the areas of maternal health, education, skills training, healthcare and clean water services.

Relief provided: With the help of your generous donations, UNHCR has been able to provide refugee families living in Nakivale with a brighter future. Thus far, the UN Refugee Agency has been able to improve life for refugee families in the areas of education, healthcare, skills training and clean water.  More specifically, as a result of your donations, we have been able to provide large quantities of emergency relief and support the camp's crowded schools and health centres.  Funds raised have been used to provide emergency shelter, blankets, tools, school supplies, water infrastructure, medical supplies, two ambulances and a new secondary school in Nakivale.

Donations will continue to contribute to the following improvements in Nakivale:

• The Life Line of Education: Donations wil provide the settlement with more teachers, classrooms, desks, chairs and stationery so that more children can have access to education - and with education, the chance to a better life.
• The Life Line of Maternal Health: Funds will allow UNHCR to work with communities to increase and improve existing maternal health services and antenatal care.  They will also help increase community awareness of reproductive health and family planning issues.
• The Life Line of Clean Water: Donations made towards the Water and Sanitation program will help maintain and upgrade the settlement's existing water systems. It will also help reduce the daily 'walk to water' and the incidence of waterborne disease by funding more boreholes, shallow wells and hand pumps in new areas of the camp.
• The Life Line of Healthcare: Funds raised for healthcare will help go towards maintaining and improving the settlement's four health centres and disease prevention programs. We will continue to support the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of malaria and vector control measures like residual spraying. We will also help improve the settlement's capacity to treat new arrivals, many of whom have walked for weeks fleeing fighting to reach Nakivale.
• The Life Line of Skills Training: Donations to the Nakivale cause will help the UN Refugee Agency oversee the construction and ongoing operation of a computer centre in Nakivale to put literate young people in touch with the outside world and give them valuable work skills. With 30 solar-powered work stations and an adjoining internet cafe, we are now seeking funds to provide teaching staff and equipment.

Total funds raised to date: $656,895.

Read more examples of how your donations have contributed to other UNHCR Programs.