By Watchdog reporter
Lutheran World Relief (LWR) has today handed over items worth over $250,000 (Approx sh 800 million) to Uganda Red Cross Society.
The donations that include 160 Bales of Blankets and 220 cartons of school kits among others were handed over to the Secretary General of the Red Cross at their offices in Rubaga.
The donation comes at a time when Uganda is facing an influx of refugees and asylum seekers fleeing conflict in South Sudan. It has been reported that over 70,000 South Sudanese refugees displaced by violence crossed the border into Uganda in July, according to the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR). The agency says that it is registering over 1,000 South Sudanese each day.
This crisis has severely stretched the capacity of Uganda’s refugee centres and constrained the country in terms of providing social services, food, health, education, water and sanitation services to the refugees and therefore any help accorded by donors goes a long way in making a huge impact to the refugees.
While addressing the press during the handover of the items at the Uganda Red Cross offices in Rubaga, Kenneth Barigye, the Lutheran World Relief Country Director said, “We at Lutheran are happy that we are able to contribute even so little to help make the lives of those fleeing violence a little better away from their homes.”
According to Robert Kwesiga, the Secretary General-Uganda Red Cross Society, these donations will benefit the refugees surviving in refugee Camps in Yumbe& ‘Adjumani. “Many refugees who recently moved from South Sudan are camping in the different settlements, and they need our support.
Since 1985, LWR has been working with local partners in Uganda to address the root causes of poverty and improve the livelihoods of people in the community. “In making this donation to The Red Cross, we continue with our work of trying to improve the lives of people. We hope these items will provide emergency relief and support the camp’s crowded schools and health centres,” said Barigye.
“The scholastic materials will support children as they enroll in schools next term. Thank you LWR, and we pray that more partners will come on board and trust us with more resources to meet the needs of these vulnerable people,” Kwesiga said.
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