The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, has launched a public awareness campaign, to encourage community support for education targeting South Sudanese refugee children in Uganda.

The campaign has kicked off in the Bidi Bidi refugee settlement camp, which according to UNHCR is one of the largest refugee-hosting areas in the world.

Charles Yaxley, External Relations Officer for UNHCR in Uganda, told Radio Miraya that the campaign urges community leaders to play an active role in promoting its goals.

“We are engaging the community leaders to spread the word to parents and to the children to try and make sure that as many children as possible can take advantage of the education opportunities available in Uganda,” said Yaxley.

The government of Uganda estimates that there are more than 600,000 South Sudanese refugees living in the country, and most are young.

“Two thirds of the South Sudanese refugees in Uganda are children under the age of 18,” says Yaxley.

“It is vital that the children get the education they deserve,” he added stressing that  “these children are South Sudan’s  leaders of tomorrow,  we need to make sure that they have the skills and the knowledge so that once it is safe for them to go back home, they are able to rebuild their country.” 

UNHCR is currently working with the government of Uganda to find ways of identifying the correct levels for the children getting into the education system, in order to spur their future development and help them become future leaders. The agency is also working with partners to deliver the critical aid needed to construct more classrooms, recruit more teachers, and purchase more textbooks.

Charles Yaxley, however, noted that the humanitarian response for South Sudanese refugee’s remains severely underfunded. For 2016, the response received in Uganda is a mere 36 per cent of the 251 million dollars needed.

 “We do urge partners in the international community to speed up donor contributions, so that we can help South Sudanese refugees to live in safety and dignity, and to flourish.”

UNHCR is urging countries with influence on the political leadership in South Sudan to bring the warring sides together in dialogue, to find a way to end the bloodshed and allow people to return home safely.