Around 1.4 million refugees are currently living in 30 settlements in Uganda. Many of them have fled conflict or abuse in South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Burundi.

For several months, MapAction has been working with humanitarian research project REACH and other humanitarian organisations in Uganda to help understand the needs of this large and diverse population of displaced people so that they get the help they need.

In April this year, a MapAction team went to Uganda to explore the information needs of humanitarian teams operating in the region and how we could help. This followed an upsurge in conflict in eastern DRC, which caused a large number of people to flee to Uganda. Since then, MapAction has undertaken three further missions to Uganda to support a large-scale assessment of the needs of refugees lead by REACH, and to deliver a humanitarian mapping course.

We are very grateful to MapAction members Jonny, Jorge, Katharina, Anne, Alistair and Becky for their hard work helping ensure that the needs of refugees in Uganda can be met. We are also grateful to the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (EU ECHO) which is funding this work through a two-year grant aimed at strengthening effective, evidence based humanitarian decision-making.

It is likely that MapAction will continue to be involved in leading training sessions and advising on the development of regional information systems in Uganda this Autumn – so watch this space for more news of that work as it unfolds.

Photo: two classroom blocks funded by EU ECHO and partners at Bidibidi refugee settlement in northwestern Uganda. EU/ECHO/Edward Echwalu