JRS first began work in Uganda in 1993 with the launch of a large-scale education project in the camps surrounding Adjumani District, northern Uganda, housing South Sudanese refugees fleeing civil war. It became one of longest-running and most successful JRS projects. In 1994, JRS expanded in northern Uganda to work in Rhino camp with Sudanese refugees, and subsequently in Kitgum district in 2006 to help internally displaced persons (IDPs).
As the two-decade war in Sudan drew to a close, refugees began to return home and JRS made the decision to withdraw from Adjumani and Rhino camp in 2008. In March 2012, the majority of IDPs had also returned to their areas of origin in Kitgum and JRS closed operations there, leaving the communities with a firm foundation for a stable future.
As of January 2012, there are 150,000 refugees and asylum seekers in Uganda. JRS still operates in the Ugandan capital of Kampala assisting urban refugees and asylum seekers. JRS started work there in 1998 and continues to provide emergency assistance through the provisions of food, non-food items, medical support and rent and transport payment assistance. In addition, teams organise vocational training courses, adult literacy classes and psychosocial support.
Eastern Africa
Regional Office
easternafrica@jrs.net
+254 20 3874152
http://www.jrsea.org
Eastern Africa is one of 10 geographic regions of the Jesuit Refugee Service, an international Catholic organisation founded by the Society of Jesus.
In eastern Africa JRS is currently implementing 13 projects in Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda, reaching out to over 105,000 refugees, internally displaced persons and returnees. JRS Eastern Africa provides education, psychosocial support, pastoral care, peace-education, livelihoods services and emergency relief and is involved in human rights protection and advocacy activities on different levels.
Altogether, there are over eight million refugees and internally displaced persons in the whole region, including Somalia.
JRS started working in Africa in the early 1980s. One of the earliest commitments was in Ethiopia, providing food, shelter and medical aid to thousands of people displaced within their own country by war and famine.
In the early 1990s the JRS Eastern Africa region was established with the regional office based in Nairobi, Kenya.
In 1992 one of the biggest and longest serving JRS projects was set up in Adjumani, northern Uganda, assisting Sudanese refugees mainly through education and pastoral care. It was closed in 2008, after 75 schools were handed over to the government and most of the refugees were repatriated to Southern Sudan, now helping to rebuild their country, with the skills they gained during their exile in Adjumani.
Today, JRS's biggest operations in eastern Africa are in Southern Sudan, providing support in education, peace-building and pastoral accompaniment.
Uganda: Burundian refugees concerned for their safety
Kampala, 21 October 2011 – Refugees from Burundi are concerned for their safety, citing the effects of increasing violence and corruption at home and a challenging asylum process in Uganda as the main sources of insecurity in their lives.
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Uganda: Burundian refugees concerned for their safety
Kampala, 21 October 2011 – Refugees from Burundi are concerned for their safety, citing the effects of increasing violence and corruption at home and a challenging asylum process in Uganda as the main sources of insecurity in their lives.
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Uganda: more than 1,700 sent back to Rwanda
New York, 17 July 2010 – Ugandan police have forcibly returned more than 1,700 Rwandans, including recognised refugees, according to the NGO Human Rights Watch.
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Uganda: JRS welcomes US commitment to rebel disarmament
Nairobi, 6 June 2010 – JRS has welcomed the recent introduction of legislation on renewing US commitments to disarmament of the rebel group, the Lords Resistance Army (LRA), and the reconstruction of areas affected by the ongoing conflict.
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Uganda: reintegration of child soldiers a major challenge "Many former child soldiers, abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and forced to commit atrocities, have to deal with their trauma alone", JRS Peace Education Advisor, John Paul Akera, told Dispatches on 15 January.
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Uganda: reintegration of child soldiers requires expertise and commitment For more than 20 years, northern Uganda has been the theatre for one of Africa's longest and most brutal conflicts. Ninety percent of the northern ethnic Acholi population was displaced by the atrocities committed by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).
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Uganda: JRS trains refugees on Ugandan Refugee Act
Kampala, 29 May 2009 — The JRS Urban Programme held a seminar on the Ugandan Refugee Act for asylum seekers and refugees at JRS Kampala offices this May. The purpose was to help beneficiaries gain a better understanding of the Refugee Act and to promote awareness of their rights and responsibilities. Fifteen asylum seekers and eight refugees from Somalia, Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Congo, Kenya and Ethiopia participated in the seminar. They then disseminated the information within their respective groups.
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Uganda: children forced to quit school as food aid is cut Over the past three months, thousands of children have dropped out of primary school in northern Uganda due to lack of food and inadequate learning environments. According to IRIN news agency, statistics from the district education office showed a 6.1 percent rise in drop-out rates, many of whom are girls under 15 years of age.
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Uganda: Influx of Congolese refugees
Kampala, 31 October 2008 — Since mid September 2008, massive numbers of Congolese asylum seekers have been reported to have entered Uganda, their number estimated at 7000 by October 20, 2008, according to IRIN.
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Uganda: Taking responsibility for changes
Kampala, 30 October 2008 — JRS psychosocial programme organised a campaign on domestic violence and alcohol abuse, two major social problems, in Aparo Hill-Top and Oryang IDP camps on October 30 and 31. The campaign aimed at fostering collaboration, strengthening community initiative and forming the right attitude among internally displaced persons (IDP) in the camps.
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Uganda: president re-elected On 25 February, according to Reuters news agency, Uganda's opposition rejected election results that extended President Yoweri Museveni's two-decade rule, and riot police used tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters backing his rival.
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Uganda: UNHCR programme more popular than expected More refugees than expected, over 9,000 out of an estimated population of 12,000, have registered to participate in the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) repatriation programme. The programme is expected to begin in early March and will continue until the beginning of the rainy season in May/June.
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Uganda: president re-elected On 25 February, according to Reuters news agency, Uganda's opposition rejected election results that extended President Yoweri Museveni's two-decade rule, with 59% of the popular vote, and riot police used tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters backing his rival.
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Uganda: increase expected in asylum seekers in Kampala On 9 February, Reuters news agency reported at least 55,000 people have been displaced in North and South Kivu, eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as a result of fighting between the army and armed groups.
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Uganda: UNHCR refugees moved from the border to settlements On 26 January, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, moved some 1,100 Congolese refugees who fled to Uganda the previous week following fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
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