The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gen Abubaker Jeje Odongo, has applauded development partners who have funded Uganda and supported refugee projects in the country.
Gen Odongo was giving a public lecture on the status of Uganda’s foreign policy, organized by the Uganda Council on Foreign Relations, held at the Fairway Hotel in Kampala on October 15, 2024.
“The cost of hosting refugees is enormous and takes a toll on the small resources of the country. In Uganda, refugees go to the same schools and hospitals and work with Ugandans without discrimination, and we wish to thank all development partners who have extended assistance to Uganda to enable us to host refugees,” Odongo said.
Odongo added that one of Uganda’s foreign policies is allowing refugees to come and settle in Uganda, noting that some are already integrated into the communities irrespective of conflicts ending in their countries.
“Uganda has an open refugee policy, which has seen many from neighboring countries seeking refuge in Uganda living in both urban centers and some in gazetted communities many years even after the conflicts ended in their home countries,” Odongo added.
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The Chairman of Uganda Council for Foreign Relations (UCFR), Gen (Rtd) Ivan Koreta, thanked the Foreign Affairs ministry for allowing them to share insights on what is happening at the ministry and how best partners and key stakeholders can keep sharing information.
“The address is an important forum for interaction, information sharing, and foreign policy addresses. It also gives an unusual opportunity for stakeholders to exchange views on current affairs and what’s happening around the world,” he said.
Ambassador Francis Katana, the CEO of UCFR, said that the company was founded in 2016 as an idea to create a forum that would close the gap between the Executive, Parliament, and other stakeholders. It was created with a vision of having a center of excellence for the provision of foreign policies in Uganda.
The mission of UCFR is to provide a nonpartisan network for information sharing, research, and communication focused on Uganda’s relations, with the main objective being to provide a platform for information sharing on foreign policy.
The event was attended by ambassadors from different countries, former ambassadors, envoys, and other government officials from the Foreign Affairs ministry and other ministries, departments, and agencies, members of the Academia, and civil society.
