An estimated 86% of the more than 900,000 South Sudanese refugees in Uganda are women and children, says the UN. As a result, many women are leading their extended households and communities in Uganda’s refugee settlements. With the support of each other, the authorities and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs), they are trying to build a life.
In many refugee settlements, women are working together to pool their skills and resources. In each group, the NGO trains an elected lead mother to teach the others about nutrition, infant feeding, hygiene and staying healthy. Many groups also take on income-generating projects like making soap, keeping poultry or growing extra vegetables, which gives them cash and a communal savings pot from which they can borrow at low interest. They also support each other emotionally and practically. Some of the women in Mungula are longer-term refugees who have married since arriving, while others are alone. When Action Against Hunger arrived last August, Bidi Bidi was a sea of white plastic UN tents, but refugees are gradually creating homes. Programme manager Joel Komakech says now the emergency is subsiding, refugees are taking leadership roles “to help rebuild their lives”.
13 June 2017
http://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-39998759
