US pledges $639m for refugee assistance
By Benjamin Jumbe:
The government of United States has announced a pledge of nearly $639 million in additional humanitarian assistance.
This comes less than a month since Uganda hosted the Uganda Solidarity Summit on refugees and the just concluded G20 summit in Germany.
Some $62.7 million of this total is to support the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and World Food Program refugee assistance operations in Uganda.
U.S. Ambassador to Uganda Deborah Malac said the United States cannot continue to shoulder the responsibility of humanitarian assistance to Uganda alone urging the rest of the international donor community particularly those who do not historically respond to humanitarian crises to contribute more to prevent a broader disaster.
Uganda is currently hosting about 1.3 million refugees in the country including nearly 1 million from South Sudan which figures have increased pressure on the host populations.
