Uganda Refugee Response: Research and Field Reporting

Uganda hosts more refugees than any other country in Africa — 2,031,697 people as of June 2026. That figure is not an abstraction. It represents the largest forced displacement caseload on the continent, managed by a country with a GDP per capita of USD 1,375, through a legal framework that grants refugees land, freedom of movement, and the right to work. During multiple visits to southwest Uganda, including GPS-documented field work in June 2026, I have observed the conditions that these numbers describe: reception centres operating near capacity, settlements where food rations fall short of the 2,100-calorie daily standard, and communities — both refugee and host — navigating a system built on good principles and chronically inadequate funding.

The eleven articles in this collection cover every major dimension of Uganda's refugee response: its scale, its coordination architecture, the operational reality at reception centres, what the 2024 self-reliance data shows, the origins of the two largest refugee groups, mental health conditions in settlements, malnutrition rates, food security, and the border dynamics driving ongoing arrivals.