The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is seeking $1.3 billion (about Sh168 billion)funding to assist South Sudanese refugees displaced by conflict, the majority of whom are women and children.
According to the UNHCR, about 80 per cent of the 2.2 million South Sudanese refugees are women and children. In a press release announcing the funds appeal, it said the funding will also go towards helping the refugees’ host communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda.
The funding is majorly meant for programmes earmarked to prevent and respond to gender-based violence. It also aims to provide digital cash assistance, and other resilience-enhancing initiatives such as access to finance and training, and to help refugees and local communities generate income, supplement their needs and live in dignity.
The appeal comes amid a worsening economic outlook across the region as the long-term impact of Covid-19 and the ripple effects of the war in Ukraine have pushed up fuel and food prices and increased unemployment.
It also comes in the backdrop of the worst drought in sub-Saharan Africa in 40 years that continues to have severe effects on women, girls and children more than men.
Under the South Sudan Refugee Response Plan, the UNHCR is urging the international community to scale up support for the millions of refugees who are unable to return home as their country continues to face a fragile peace and security environment, marked by cycles of sporadic violence and the impacts of an unfolding climate crisis.
