KAMPALA —The Embassy Swedish in Uganda together with the World Food Programme and Office of the Prime Minister have on Tuesday October 6 launched a social protection cash transfer program in refugee hosting districts in West Nile.
According to the arrangements, a total of 56 000 young children, pregnant women and nursing mothers shall benefit in order to improve their nutrition in the time of COVID19 pandemic.
The transfer will distributed as cash through mobile bank vans.
Districts that will benefit from this support include Adjumani, Arua, Madi, Okollo, Koboko, Moyo, Obongi, Terego and Yumbe.
On average, beneficiaries will be 80% refugees & 20% host communities.
“Sweden has committed over $4m to stabilize women and children’s feeding following disruptions faced in accessing nutritious food during the COVID19 lockdown. The beneficiaries shall be the most vulnerable identified by the communities” said El-Khidir Daloum, the Country Representative of WFP.
“Our close partnership with WFP allowed us to completely adapt our support at a time of crisis. Sweden supports Uganda’s progressive refugee policies and its implementation of the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework. Sweden is also the largest global donor to the World Food Program of flexible funds. Linkages between this emergency intervention and already ongoing programs in West Nile ensures alignment and efficiency gains from our combined experience working there”, said Ola Hällgren, Swedish Embassy, Head of Cooperation.
Dr Lim Lim from the Office of the Prime Minister thanked the government and the people of Sweden for supporting this initiative.
“To be able to cover the most vulnerable households in a short time frame, cash transfers call for rigorous coordination between governments and humanitarian partners. That is where we come in, leveraging our experience working with Uganda’s refugee-hosting districts and settlements.”
