Oxfam worker’s call to aid refugees in Uganda
ASHAWLANDS woman who has been working at the heart of a humanitarian crisis in Uganda wants to raise awareness of the issue so that funds can be raised to deliver aid to the refugees who need it the most.
Sara Cowan has seen first hand the impact a civil war in South Sudan is having on its neighbouring Uganda with the number of refugees sheltering there now at the one million mark.
The 36-year-old has been out in Uganda for the last three months working for a humanitarian team for Oxfam.
The campaign coordinator said: “It has been an underreported crisis and it is an underfunded crisis. We need to bring more attention to what is happening so that the funds can get to where they need to go – to refugees in Uganda.”
She added: “There has been a brutal conflict in South Sudan which has become even more violent over the last year. People are fleeing from their homes and running for safety. Uganda is their neighbouring country and one of the countries that they have come to for safety.
“It has reached the point where one million people have left South Sudan for Uganda.”
Many of the refugees travel by foot to the Ugandan border and it is a journey which can last for up to a week.
Sara, who has worked for Oxfam for eight years, said: “It is a dangerous journey, many people get split up from their families. They also face risks on their way to Uganda.”
When they reach Uganda, the refugees register at the border and the government takes them to a settlement.
Sara said: “One of the positive things for refugees is that Uganda has kept its door open so that people from South Sudan have been able to find safety there.
“Within the refugee settlements, people are given a plot of land that they sre then able to build their shel- ter on. They are also able to do some farming and gardening.”
With the number of people coming into Uganda, it could, however, become difficult for the government to continue to maintain a positive attitude towards refugees.
Sara said: “It will be difficult to maintain the current structure in the long-term if Uganda does not get the support it needs.
“Uganda is doing a lot to keep people safe and protected but it needs the support of the international community.”
She added: “The World Food Programme had been providing food to refugees but because of the lack of funding, it has rationed in half.
“Now refugees are struggling to have enough to eat.”
Refugees also experience difficult in finding work and children have not been able to access education.
One temporary education centre’s roof was blown up during rainy season leaving an unsafe environment for children to learn.
Sara said: “Day in and day out, speaking to people from South Sudan you really hear heartbreaking stories. There are still people in desperate situations not knowing if their children or partner is still alive and safe.”
Sara and Oxfam hope that people reading about the crisis will want to help so that the refugees can get access to the basic services they need.
She said: “In places like Uganda where there is a positive policy towards refugees, it feels like you can make a difference.”
To donate and for more information, visit the Oxfam website http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what-wedo/emergency-response/ south-sudan-crisis