UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is pleased to announce the first ever Global Refugee Forum, which will take place on 17 and 18 December 2019 in Geneva, Switzerland. The event, which is being held at Ministerial level, will be co-hosted with Switzerland and co-convened by Turkey, Germany, Ethiopia and Costa Rica.

In Uganda, the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) jointly released the revised 2019-2020 Uganda Refugee Response Plan (RRP). The revision is a result of an exercise of planning figures, targets and budgets with a reduced refugee population as of year-end 2018 which started last February.

There were 119,890 IDPs in Burundi as of April 2019 according to IOM’s Data Tracking Matrix, 76 per cent of the factors of displacement are linked to natural disasters, 24 per cent are linked to the socio political situation.

As of 18 June 2019, merely 27.9 million USD was received out of the total requirements of 106 million USD for the 2019 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for Burundi which includes the humanitarian needs of Burundian returnees. Out of the 31.4 million USD specifically required to support sustainable return and reintegration; less than 600,000 USD has been received thus far.

Majority of Burundian refugees in Rwanda are engaged in agriculture. An average of 312 refugees per day were employed in Moringa tree plantation near Mahama refugee camp.

On 30 June, a first case of Ebola was confirmed in Ariwara, Aru Territory, DRC. In order to strengthen preventive measures to contain the virus, UNHCR and its partners conducted four mass sensitization sessions in Biringi, Aru and Aba targeting refugees and host community members.

UNHCR is not promoting voluntary repatriation of Burundian refugees, it supports the exercise to ensure that all returns are safe and dignified, and the result of a free and informed choice.

UNHCR welcomes Uganda Communications Commission directive to improve refugees’ access to SIM cards.

UNHCR’s Representative in Uganda today handed over three ambulances, thirty one motorcycles and a thermal scanner to the Ministry of Health to boost the Ebola response. Uganda has included refugees in the National Ebola Preparedness and Response Plan and continues to keep its borders open, ensuring safe and dignified asylum for the women, children and men arriving daily from the neighbouring countries.

From 7 September 2017 to 31 July 2019, 74,979 refugees voluntarily returned to Burundi in an organized manner with the support of UNHCR.