The Regional Child Protection Network held an Information Sharing Session on Child Protection Responses to the Burundi and South Sudan Crises. The theme was 'The Critical Importance of Child Protection in Refugee Situations'.

UNHCR High profile supporter, model and photographer Helena Christensen is calling for urgent funding and global attention for Burundian refugees living in Rwanda following a trip with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.

Both UNHCR Burundi and Tanzania operations are in need of additional resources to scale up the operation to reach 2,000 returnees per week as agreed to at the March 2018 Tripartite Commission meeting, as well as to continue attending to the humanitarian needs of refugees in Tanzania and to support returnees in Burundi.

Two (2) refugees are elected to Uganda’s highest decision-making body for comprehensive responses. 2 out of 37 seats in the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) Steering Committee are reserved for refugees, with a view to involve them in the strategic direction and key decisions on the CRRF in Uganda.

The analysis from the Verification Exercise in Uganda indicates that a majority of the refugees who were absent, originate from South Sudan and arrived between 2016 and 2017.

The Government of Uganda with the support of UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, concluded a comprehensive exercise to verify the identities of all refugees and asylum-seekers in the country, using enhanced biometric tools.

From January to 30 September 2018 a total of 38,390 refugees were assisted to voluntarily repatriate to Burundi from Tanzania in 88 convoys (bringing the total from September 2017 to 52,260).

In Uganda, limited resources means not having enough staff to ensure quality of child protection services and adequate follow up on children in care arrangements. There is one caseworker for every 150 children, and children make up some 63 per cent of the refugee population.

In Uganda’s Nakivale settlement thousands of refugee families are using overcrowded communal latrines, with risk of disease outbreaks, little privacy, and exposure of women and children in particular to protection risks.

Education is very basic, with insufficient learning materials and overcrowded classrooms in all countries of asylum. In Tanzania, over 17,600 Burundi refugee students are attending classes under trees.