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UNICEF Response to South Sudan Refugee Situation

Situation

  • 4,074 South Sudanese refugees arrived on August 2, 2016, nearly three times the number of new arrivals on July 31, which was 1,274.
  • 55,920 South Sudanese Refugees arrived since 7th July 2016.
  • According to UNHCR, the priorities are: Rapid opening of the newly identified settlement area in Yumbe district; decongesting the reception and transit centres; increasing coverage of health and nutrition staff; expansion of water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure and services and procurement of medical drugs and supplies for the period of Oct-Dec 2016.

UNICEF Humanitarian response

Health & Nutrition:

  • Immunisation: From 18th July- 02 August, UNICEF and its partners have immunized 15,563 children under the age of 15 years against measles and 16,840 children below 5 years of age have received Bivalent Oral Polio Vaccine at Elegu in Adjumani, Kerwe in Yumbe and Keri in Koboko.
  • 902 women aged 15-49 years have been immunized against tetanus.
  • 31,192 under-five children have been dewormed to boost their immunity while 6,256 under-five children have received Vitamin A supplements to enable them retain nutrient contents of food and facilitate normal growth.
  • General Health: From 18th July- 02 August, 164 refugees have been treated for malaria, 11 treated for watery diarrhoea and 30 treated for various injuries like minor accidents on the road.
  • Nutrition: Between 18th July – 02 August, 6,220 children under-five years of age were screened for malnutrition; the 6.5 per cent found with Global Acute Malnutrition and 2.5 per cent with Severe Acute Malnutrition have been referred for appropriate nutrition rehabilitation at health centres and outreach treatment centres.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

  • UNICEF has constructed 10 temporary bathing shelters, 10 temporary latrines, installed a water treatment system, and installed a water tank and tap stands.
  • At Elegu 1 & 2, UNICEF has provided 10 hand washing facilities and 10 buckets to promote hand washing at critical times. The facilities are managed by Lutheran World Federation (LWF) at Elegu 1 and Water Mission Uganda at Elegu 2.

Education:

  • UNICEF and partners participated in an education assessment in the Pagirinya refugee settlement and in Yumbe District.  Renovation of existing school facilities, construction of extra classrooms, the establishment of integrated early childhood development centres, recruitment of caregivers, training of caregivers, recruitment of teachers and teaching assistants, and construction of teachers’ accommodation, are all being recommended.
  • Pagirinya 1A feeder primary school P.1-P.4 has registered close to 1,500 children; only 10 trained teachers and 9 classroom assistants are presently at the school to support the registered children
  • UNICEF is supporting to set up 30 early childhood development centres in Yumbe, Arua and Adjumani through Plan International.

Child Protection: 

  • Save the Children and UNICEF continue to conduct the identification, registration, and on-spot re-unification of separated and unaccompanied children at Elegu, Nyumanzi Transit Centre and Pagirinya refugee settlement; 272 unaccompanied children and 441 separated children have been registered while 18 missing children have been traced and re-united with their families; psychosocial support is being provided to all unaccompanied children.
Distributed by APO on behalf of United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).