Kyangwali Refugee Settlement


Kyangwali Refugee Settlement is a refugee camp in Kikuube District in western Uganda.
Kyangwali refugee settlement was established in the 1960s to accommodate Rwandan refugees. After many Rwandans repatriated voluntarily in 1994, the settlement has hosted mostly Congolese refugees. South Sudanese and Congolese refugees first entered Kyangwali in 1996 and 1997 respectively. By 2002, the population was slightly above 40,000 refugees with majority South Sudanese; however, when South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011, many South Sudanese Refugees in Kyangwali Refugee Settlement repatriated leaving the Settlement to be dominated by Congolese. This repatriation led to the drop in the number of refugees to slightly above 20,000 people but the start of a new refugee influx from the Democratic Republic of Congo in mid December 2017, has nearly doubled the refugee population in Kyangwali from 36,713 in December 2017 to 109,207 in the end of July 2019.
Kyangwali Refugee Settlement has over 30 relief agencies trying to support refugees. These work as either implementing partner or operating partner with UNHCR. The feeling by most of the elite refugees that the agencies promise donors more than what they actually deliver has led to the formation of more than 20 Community Based Organisations. Although majority of these refugee founded rely on community resources and the support of the refugee population to help the most vulnerable among themselves, Some of the organisations such as , , have gone an extra mile to gain national and/or international recognition by UNHCR, World Bank, and other agencies and donors.