The French Embassy visits the refugees of Nakivale in conclusion of the food security program. [fr]
The visit to Nakivale camp follows France’s contribution to the funding of the food aid and resilience improvement mission for refugees, implemented since June 2021 under the auspices of Action Against Hunger. It was an opportunity for the French Embassy to assess the progress made in terms of nutrition and training in innovative farming techniques.
On Monday, August 1, His Excellency the Ambassador Jules-Armand Aniambossou visited the Isingiro region as part of the Improving nutrition, food security and self-reliance for refugees in southwestern Uganda mission to the Kyangwali and Nakivale refugee camps. These two camps are among the most densely populated, with a total of 150,000 refugees in Nakivale camp. The mission, which ended on July 31, consisted of ensuring and reinforcing food security for refugees in the two camps, especially thanks to funding from the Inter-ministerial Committee for Food Aid (CIAA). The latter entrusted the sum of 300,000 euros to the French Embassy in Uganda in order to support the project of the non-governmental organization Action Against Hunger (AAH) among the refugees.
The Nakivale mission follows two earlier grants allocated by the French government to the same local partners, whose on-the-ground activities are coordinated by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The continued flow of new refugees into Uganda, now numbering 1.5 million, is putting pressure on the availability of food and farmland systematically allocated to new arrivals under the Refugee Act of 2006. Since June 2021, some of the households settled in Nakivale have been receiving material and educational support, which differentiates the mission from the humanitarian aid programs carried out in other camps. Indeed, if the supply of nutrient food to the communities is necessary considering the decrease in aid provided since the health crisis of Covid-19, learning sustainable and efficient cultivation techniques, transmitted by and among the refugees themselves, allows the inhabitants to become resilient while considerably improving their quality of life. In this regard, the visit of His Excellency the Ambassador to the Farmer Field School in Kashare provided an opportunity for farmers and apprentices to share their skills acquired through the agricultural skills development program. In addition, His Excellency the Ambassador spoke with some of the beneficiaries and was able to see the gain in terms of yields obtained as a result of the mission.
Furthermore, since the majority of the refugees in Nakivale are women and vulnerable children, talking with them about the impact of the food vouchers, distributed through the Fresh Food Vouchers program, was an essential part of the visit. The positive feedback from the mothers reinforced the value of such missions in ensuring good nutrition for the many children in the camp whose first three years of life are critical to their future health.
Finally, the mission ended with the encouraging conclusions of His Excellency the Ambassador who, more than a year after visiting the Kyangwali camp, reaffirms France’s commitment to respond to the urgent needs of the refugees but also to accompany them towards independence from humanitarian aid.