Talented refugee models who met with UNHCR High Profile Supporter, Helena Christensen, in October 2018 grace Vogue Magazine.

In a historic decision, the member states of the UN General Assembly today agreed on a new international framework – known as the Global Compact on Refugees – that will transform the way the world responds to mass displacement and refugee crises, benefiting both refugees and the communities that host them.

OCTOBER SEES LOWEST NEW ARRIVALS IN 2018 SO FAR – January saw the highest number of new arrivals in 2018 with nearly 5,800 individuals, and arrivals have been in steady decline since, with just 721 arrivals in October, including zero new arrivals reported in East Darfur State. Inter-agency partners agreed in July to revise new arrival estimates for 2018 to 50,000 by year-end, from an original estimate of 200,000, following the notably slower rate of new arrivals in the first half of the year.

UNHCR TO COVER DRUGS GAPS IN REFUGEE CAMPS AND EL LERI SETTLEMENT TO THE END OF 2019; ADDITIONAL FUNDING STILL NEEDED – UNHCR is procuring essential drugs to address supply gaps in health clinics in refugee camps in White Nile and East Darfur States, and for the El Leri settlements in South Kordofan State. The procurement will cover essential drugs supply needs for one year, with an additional four months’ supply allocated as contingency stock. Funding is urgently needed to cover drugs supply gaps in other out-of-camp refugee settlements in all States across the response.

LARGE INTERNAL REFUGEE MOVEMENTS OBSERVED WITH START OF HARVEST SEASON – In White Nile State, the Government of Sudan’s Commission for Refugees (COR) estimates that at least 50,000 refugees are working on farms outside of the camps. Refugee schools in camps are temporarily closed, and will reopen in November, when families are anticipated to return to camps. Education partners and the State Ministry of Education agreed in September to adjust the school calendar to address low attendance rates anticipated during the harvest season. In East Darfur, a 10 per cent reduction in attendance to therapeutic and supplementary feeding nutrition programmes in camps has been observed. Where possible, programming is being adapted so beneficiaries can still receive sufficient nutrition support.

Support scheme in Rwandan capital and elsewhere sees refugee businesses including Burundian-owned LPG store create 2,600 new jobs countrywide.

In 2018, UNHCR and its partners received just 38 percent of the required US$1.4 billion requested to support South Sudanese refugees. Education, health and food supplies are all severely underfunded, exacting a heavy toll on women and children, who account for 83 percent of the refugees.

Five years on since the civil war started, over 2.2 million South Sudanese refugees have sought safety in six neighbouring countries: Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Central African Republic (CAR). Another 1.9 million are internally displaced inside South Sudan.

The consequences of underfunding are being felt across the board by Burundian refugees in four neighbouring countries, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda and Uganda.

Burundian refugees are enduring cuts to food rations, lack of medicines, overcrowded schools and inadequate shelter. Despite the best efforts of all, a massive increase in support is needed to adequately provide for even the most basic needs.