ReliefWeb

Palorinya refugee settlement was established in December 2016 and is located in Moyo district in the West Nile region of Uganda. The settlement currently hosts approximately 166,000 South Sudanese refugees with a total surface area of 37.58 square kilometres and is currently closed to new arrivals.

Gaps & Challenges

• The lack of educational facilities available has led to congestion and high teacher per student ratios in classes. This has compromised the quality of the education provided to refugees and the host community with pre-primary students currently taught under trees.
  Additionally, a lack of extracurricular activities and vocational education has led to disillusionment for many adolescents.

• Degradation of natural resources both at the settlement and host community level has arisen due to the high number of recent arrivals. Environmental problems have been exacerbated by lack of sustainable energy sources for cooking, which has contributed to deforestation. Moreover, flooding during the rainy season has led to displacements and reduced access to services.

• Both refugees and the host community have limited access to livelihoods and income-generating activities. There is a lack of vocational institutions for skills training and individual small-scale enterprises, with livelihoods partners challenged by a lack of resources. The host community reported, the absence of cash grants, in particular, prevents them from starting small-scale businesses at the household level.

• Limited access to basic healthcare services is experienced by refugees and the host community. Refugees have reported a shortage of operational facilities, trained personnel and medical supplies; with many refugees also claiming the referral system is inadequate. Poor facilities have resulted in overcrowding and many patients unable to receive treatment.

• Lack of a central information sharing system. The communication gap present between the UN, implementing partners, operating partners and the district leadership has created an absence of a central information sharing system. This gap means partners rely primarily on inter-agency coordination meetings to obtain up to date information.

• Inadequate water sources have led to congestion at water points, with both refugees and host community members facing long queues and waiting hours. The host community stated new facilities were expected, yet these have not been built leading them to compete with refugees for limited water sources.