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Showing posts from April, 2020

Urban Refugees’ right to healthcare services in the wake of COVID-19: Leave No One Behind

As the global community tirelessly grapples to contain the spread of COVID-19, I am worried about the fate of hundreds of thousands of urban refugees living in Uganda; a country with an ailing healthcare system that is largely characterized by drug stock-outs, shortage of health workers, limited access to health services and limited coping capacity. That notwithstanding, Uganda hosts approximately 1,394,678 refugees fleeing persecution, conflict, devastating effects of climate change, and human rights violations from neighboring countries such as Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan among others. Out of 1,394,378 refugees, 66,464 refugees reside in Kampala (Kampala central, Makindye, Kawempe, Nakawa, Nansana, and Rubaga). Non-recognition of their status as refugees, especially Congolese demonstrates their unique legal, social and economic vulnerability which threatens their basic human rights, including access to healthcare. In addition, living conditions am...