Where we work

Uganda

Uganda has become home to 1.7 million refugees from neighbouring countries but with funding and resources dwindling, 2.4 million locals and refugees are now in urgent need.

Despite its troubled past, Uganda has become a relatively peaceful country, welcoming those fleeing conflict in neighbouring countries.

However, Uganda’s stability means that its development funding from richer countries has been cut. With new arrivals continuing to stretch resources even further, many people are left without the essentials they need to survive.

Many households are in a hunger crisis following recent cuts in World Food Programme rations food provided by the international community with refugees now living on less than 40% of ‘basic survival rations’. Children are particularly vulnerable. With families desperate to survive, young girls are forced into early marriage while 1 in 10 children don’t complete primary school education and are at risk of child labour. Others face physical threats from domestic violence and sexual abuse. Given these traumatic experiences, 50% of children in Uganda need mental health support.

Scale of the challenge

940 K

children in need of humanitarian assistance
50 %

of children need mental health support
1 /3

of girls have suffered sexual abuse

Our work in Uganda

Since 2017, War Child has worked across Uganda to help children heal from their wartime experiences and build a brighter future. We work with local partners, mostly in refugee settlementscamps, to provide children with vital mental health support and access to quality education while protecting children at risk from violence and abuse. In 2023, we met the urgent needs of 32,243 children and adults.

A child taking part in Can't Wait to Learn in Uganda. — Photograph taken by Joel.

War Child programmes include:

Psychological First Aid and Psychosocial Support

We ensure that children don’t suffer in silence. Our interventions use individual counselling, group therapy and suicide prevention outreach to help refugee children process their experiences and improve their mental wellbeing.

In 2023, our group therapy TeamUp sessions improved mental health and wellbeing for 83% of children who participated.

Support for Caregivers and Teachers

Through our BeThere and CORE interventions, we help the important adults in children's lives to cope with their own difficult experiences and improve their mental wellbeing. This boost in mental health helps parents, caregivers and teachers to create a protective and supportive environment for children.

ReachNow

We train community members to identify children who need mental health care and guide them to available services.

Education

We ensure children in hard-to-reach areas can still access quality education through our cutting-edge EdTech innovation, Can’t Wait to Learn. We also help refugee children catch up on vital years of missed schools through accelerated learning programmes.

Child Protection

We have a dedicated team of child protection caseworkers who support children who are at risk of or victims of violence, abuse and exploitation. Through case management and referral to specialist services, we protect children from further harm and build hope for a brighter future.

Project Focus – PlayMatters

PlayMatters centres around “learning through play” which has proven to be both effective in helping children heal from their experiences of conflict and a firm favourite in schools. Teachers use active learning techniques and fun, practical materials like Lego and flashcards to help children question, experiment and discover in a safe and supportive environment. Through training teachers across refugee settlements in Uganda, we’ve already reached 147,538 children with this vital programme.