Support scheme in Rwandan capital and elsewhere sees refugee businesses including Burundian-owned LPG store create 2,600 new jobs countrywide.

In 2018, UNHCR and its partners received just 38 percent of the required US$1.4 billion requested to support South Sudanese refugees. Education, health and food supplies are all severely underfunded, exacting a heavy toll on women and children, who account for 83 percent of the refugees.

Five years on since the civil war started, over 2.2 million South Sudanese refugees have sought safety in six neighbouring countries: Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Central African Republic (CAR). Another 1.9 million are internally displaced inside South Sudan.

The consequences of underfunding are being felt across the board by Burundian refugees in four neighbouring countries, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda and Uganda.

Burundian refugees are enduring cuts to food rations, lack of medicines, overcrowded schools and inadequate shelter. Despite the best efforts of all, a massive increase in support is needed to adequately provide for even the most basic needs.

UNHCR, the Office of the Prime Minster (OPM) and partner agencies today officially launched a communication system for refugees and asylum seekers in Uganda. The two-way communication system is being rolled out to all refugee settlements in Uganda and is anticipated to cover the entire refugee operation by February 2019.

Burundian refugee women and girls are suffering high levels of sexual and gender-based violence and exploitation. Makeshift and dilapidated shelters provide little protection.

Access to education beyond primary school is far from what it should be. Just 20% of secondary school-aged Burundian refugee children are enrolled in education.

At the heart of Ethiopia's innovative new refugee framework is a more comprehensive response to displacement in which refugees are included in national services like health and education, rather than setting up parallel systems. It also focuses on ensuring refugees have the opportunity to be self-reliant and can contribute to local economies in a way that also benefits their hosts.

UNHCR welcomes Ethiopia’s historic new refugee law which will now allow refugees to obtain work permits, access primary education, obtain drivers’ licenses, legally register life events such as births and marriages and open up access to national financial services, such as banking.