WFP seeks 137 mln USD for refugees in Uganda

KAMPALA, June 21 (Xinhua) -- UN World Food Program (WFP) on Wednesday said it urgently needs 137 million U.S. dollars to provide food for about 1.5 million refugees in Uganda over the coming months.

"WFP Uganda is right now critically underfunded with a real risk of a complete pipeline break in coming months," Abdirahman Meygag, said the WFP country director in Uganda in a tweet. "For WFP to continue providing lifesaving food assistance in Uganda, we urgently need 137 million dollars. The right to food is a human right."

The comments come barely a day after Uganda on Tuesday joined the world to mark World Refugee Day, under the theme "Hope Away from Home."

Uganda is the largest refugee-hosting country in Africa, with about 1.5 million refugees, mainly from neighboring countries like South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi and Somalia, according to the agency.

The WFP provides the refugees with monthly relief assistance in the form of in-kind food or cash to meet their basic food needs. The level of assistance depends on funding availability.