UN Central Emergency Response Fund and IOM to continue providing emergency water, sanitation and hygiene assistance to Congolese and South Sudanese refugees and host communities.

Under its humanitarian response work, IOM Uganda has launched a new project titled: “Provision of Emergency WASH Assistance to Refugees and Host Communities”.

IOM, the UN Migration Agency, received USD 1 million from the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to support the rising number of Congolese and South Sudanese refugees in Uganda.

The nine-month project allows IOM and its implementing partners to extend their Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) interventions in Kyaka II Refugee Settlement in Kyegegwa District, and Palorinya Refugee Settlement in Moyo. At least 50,000 refugees and host community members are expected to benefit from the project.

Uganda has one of the largest refugee populations in the world, with over 1.2 million. The persistent armed and political conflicts, general insecurity and human rights violations in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and South Sudan are to blame for most of the displacement in the Great Lakes region. According to UNHCR, around 7,500 Congolese refugees have arrived in Uganda since the start of June, fleeing fresh violence in the east.  

Palorinya and Kyaka II settlements are among the prioritized settlements for the new arrivals, which is placing strain on already overstretched basic services such as safe water supply and sanitation and hygiene systems, including waste disposal.

Poor hygiene and sanitation conditions, coupled with lack of access to safe water, aggravates the risk of Acute Watery Diarrhea (AWD) in the two settlements. With DRC currently battling its worst ever outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), and Kyaka II receiving refugees from DRC, there is also concern about the risk of the spread EVD into Uganda.

With the latest CERF funding, IOM will extend an existing water system in Kyaka II and construct an additional one in Kyaka II and one in Palorinya providing water to hither unserved areas. In order to ensure the community ownership, IOM will establish community-based WASH management structures for sustainable operation and maintenance of the water schemes.

The intervention will also monitor the quality of available water in the project areas. Hygiene promoters and WASH committees will be trained and provided with basic water quality testing kits, so they can flag any detected contamination.

Additionally, IOM and its partners will boost latrine coverage. This will involve construction of 200 household latrines for persons with special needs and latrine blocks at schools and reception centres, as well as provision of tools and implements to facilitate the building 1,000 household latrines.

In further efforts to reduce WASH-related diseases, IOM and its partners will conduct hygiene promotion campaigns and distribute hygiene kits that include water containers, soap, handwashing facilities, menstrual hygiene items and chlorine tablets

The promotion messages will be disseminated within the communities thanks to the involvement and training of School Management Committees and School Health Clubs, hygiene promoters identified among local faith and community leaders, and music, dance and drama groups.

The sensitization work will also deal with proper waste management, focusing on proper disposal, reuse and recycling of waste in busy places like reception centers and market places, and on the safe final disposal of institutional waste, particularly from medical centres.

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For further information please contact the IOM Uganda Programme Coordinator Erika de Bona. Email: edebona@iom.int  Tel +256 312 263 210 
Media enquiries can be directed to IOM Uganda Public Information Officer, Richard M Kavuma. Email: ugandapiu@iom.int Tel +256 312 263 210.  MOB: +256 772 709 917 / 700 646 403;