The Government of Japan has announced roughly UGX 22.41 billion contribution to support Uganda’s refugee and host community programmes through three United Nations agencies.
The funding was unveiled on Thursday, May 7th, 2026, at a joint press conference held at the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office on Yusuf Lule Road.
The UN Resident Coordinator, Leonard Zulu welcomed the timely support noting that Uganda hosts nearly two million refugees amid renewed regional influxes.
“The newly announced contribution of almost $6 million is both timely and critical. It will strengthen assistance for refugees and the communities hosting them. It is life-saving. It is life-sustaining. It builds resilience in the community” he said.
The funds will be implemented by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the World Food Programme (WFP).
The UNHCR Deputy Representative, a.i. Benard Inkoom said the allocation will reach up to 160 000 newly arrived asylum seekers with protection registration cash assistance emergency health care and mental health support.
“This timely contribution will enable UNHCR and our partners to provide life-saving protection and assistance,” he noted.
IOM Chief of Mission Sanusi Savage announced that $1 million will support two community-managed solar energy hubs in Yumbe district, one located in a refugee settlement and the other within a host community to provide power for cold storage irrigation milling and small businesses. An additional $533,333 will fund climate adaptation and early warning systems.
WFP Deputy Country Director Marcus Prior highlighted the nutrition component.
“What a mother wants when she crosses the border into Uganda exhausted is to see her child eat and then to see her child recover. That’s what Japan’s contribution makes possible” he said.
He added that the funding will provide emergency food and nutrition assistance to 13,000 vulnerable refugees and host community members especially children under five and pregnant and breastfeeding women.
Japanese Ambassador Sasayama Takuya reaffirmed Japan’s long-standing partnership with Uganda.
“Uganda known as an island of peace that is one of the world’s leading refugee-hosting countries generously accommodating over 1.9 million refugees this is a quite amazing number and making a significant contribution to regional peace and stability in East Africa as well as the entire region,” Takuya said.
The Office of the Prime Minister Assistant Commissioner for Refugees, Douglas Asiimwe thanked Japan for its continued solidarity and called for sustained international burden-sharing.
The contribution aligns with the Global Compact on Refugees Uganda’s inclusive refugee policy and the humanitarian-development-peace nexus.
