In the past year, over 901,755 South Sudanese refugees have fled into Uganda, with the number expected to rise to nearly one million by the end of the year. Some 86% of the South Sudanese refugees in Uganda are women and children under 18, and an average 2,000 new refugees arrive each week. Uganda is now the largest hosting country for South Sudanese refugees, and also the country hosting the largest population of refugees in Africa. Most of the newly arrived refugees live in the refugee settlements in the districts of West Nile in Northern Uganda.

MSF launched its emergency response in July 2016 in Adjumani. As of May 2017, MSF is working in 4 refugee settlements, Bidi Bidi, Imvepi, Palorinya and Rhino; providing inpatient and outpatient care, maternity care, nutrition programme, and water and sanitation provision.

Uganda’s 2006 Refugee Act grants refugees a number of rights, including the right to freely move, work and obtain a plot of land. While this is progressive and enables refugees to be self-reliant, the policy is being tested as the scale of the refugee influx shows little sign of abating.

Humanitarian needs among South Sudanese refugees in Ugandan refugee settlements are huge. Although medical indicators do not currently exceed emergency thresholds, the insufficient and inconsistent humanitarian response is leaving people without sufficient food, clean water, and protection, causing a humanitarian crisis. While many actors are present and responding, MSF notes numerous gaps and a lack of coordination amongst humanitarian actors. An improvement in coordination is urgently needed to prevent a deterioration of health, spread of disease and further suffering of people.