Attachments
In Numbers
- 1,549,833 people assisted in March 2025
- 3,285 mt of in-kind food distributed
- USD 4.2 million in cash-based transfers
- USD 67 million net funding requirements for the period April – September 2025)
Operational Updates
Support to Refugees.
• In March, WFP provided food assistance to more than 1.3 million settlement-based refugees hosted in Uganda. A total of 351,886 beneficiaries received 2,393 mt of in-kind food assistance while 946,077 received cash-based transfers (CBT) worth USD 4.2 million.
• In addition, under the maternal child health and nutrition (MCHN) programme, 1,123 children under five, along with pregnant and breastfeeding women and girls, received 2.8 mt of specialized nutritious foods.
Financial Literacy and Scaling up of Digital Cash-Based Transfers (CBT):
• To improve cost efficiency in the refugee response, WFP expanded the use of digital delivery mechanisms through Mobile Money delivery mechanism from 23 percent in February to 27 percent in March 2025 while agency banking stands at 41 percent. By the end of March, 32 percent of refugee beneficiaries received assistance through cash-in-hand, while mobile money use increased from 23 percent in February to 27 percent in March. Agency banking stood at 41 percent. WFP aims to transition all cash-in-hand recipients to mobile money, targeting 97,345 households for full enrolment by the end of quarter 2 of 2025.
Social Protection and Systems Capacity Strengthening
• To realise the expansion of social protection coverage in Uganda, WFP working with the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, Office of the Prime Minister and District Local Governments (Koboko and Yumbe) piloted the delivery of social cash transfers to elderly refugees in Lobule and Bidibidi refugee settlements. The first delivery was cashed out in March 2025 with enthusiasm. The first 350 elderly refugees (aged 80 and above) received USD 7 per month, mirroring Uganda’s
Senior Citizens Grant model.
• The social cash transfers to elderly refugees’ intervention contributes to the Refugee Self-Reliance Model objectives of, enabling the elderly to increase participation in labour and productivity, providing basic income security to improve nutrition among elderly refugees and demonstrating commitment to expanding and extending social protection coverage to refugees.
School Meals Programme
• In March, WFP provided hot school meals to more than 220,000 learners across Karamoja at 80 percent rations. To strengthen local food systems, WFP and the Government initiated discussions on piloting a decentralized school procurement model in seven schools across Napak,
Nakapiripirit, and Kaabong districts. This approach enables schools to buy directly from local smallholder farmers.