After days of fleeing violence through Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region, Amin Ahmed and his family found safety in Uganda.
Now settled at the Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement, they join thousands who have escaped conflict in Sudan, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“We saw people killed. Reaching Uganda gave us hope,” said Ahmed, 32, whose family once relied on UN rations to survive.
But the food supply has collapsed. “There is no food,” he said, pointing to his hungry children, aged three and five.
The family now receives just $3 per person each month—hardly enough to last a few days.
Like Ahmed, Iman Mohammed, another refugee, said she fears starvation more than the war she fled. “Uganda is peaceful, but we are struggling to survive,” she said.
The World Food Program has long supported refugees with food and small cash stipends. But a severe funding crisis has brought those efforts to a breaking point.
The US, once WFP’s largest donor, cut nearly all contributions this year under President Donald Trump’s aid rollback, dismantling USAID in the process.
Uganda alone lost $83 million in funding, affecting food assistance to over 1.3 million refugees.
Now, WFP supports just 663,000 of Uganda’s 1.9 million refugees—barely a third. Many receive only 22% of a basic food ration.
To restore full aid, the agency needs $50 million but has received less than $9 million so far.
As violence escalates across East and Central Africa, refugee numbers are rising. Uganda has taken in over 112,000 new arrivals this year alone.
With dwindling resources and rising need, Uganda’s refugee response is nearing collapse.
“Sustained international solidarity is essential,” Uganda’s relief minister Hilary Onek warned. “Without it, we risk failing the world’s most vulnerable.”
