

June 24, 2017 (KAMPALA) - The international community, at a refugee solidarity summit in Uganda, pledged $358.2 million on Friday.

The pledge is part of the $2 billion aid raised to support 1.2 million refugees, 900,000 of who hail from neighbouring South Sudan.

The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, who was present at the summit, lauded the steps taken in support of refugees.

“I witnessed what has been the biggest the biggest exodus from Africa since the Rwandan genocide,” said Guterres.

According to the United Nations, over 2,000 people flee South Sudan daily into Uganda. The conflict in the young nation has displaced about two million of South Sudan’s population from their homes.

Uganda hosts 1.3 million refugees, with 900,000 of them hailing from South Sudan. The funds to support the refugees are almost running out and there is a strain on the country’s infrastructure and resources.

While speaking at the summit, the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni thanked the donor community for showing solidarity with his country.

“These people have come to express solidarity with us and on the first day $358m,” said Museveni.

“If the international community assists us to cope with this challenge we shall manage as we have done in the past,” he added.

Meanwhile, donors who attended the summit piled pressure on South Sudan’s warring factions to put an end to the country’s ongoing war.

(ST)