Uganda remains one of the region’s most important refugee-hosting countries, but the protection environment is becoming increasingly strained. Continued arrivals, protracted displacement, declining humanitarian funding, and growing pressure on public services are widening the gap between refugee protection needs and the capacity of existing systems to respond. The findings show that protection risks are increasingly shaped by where refugees live. Refugees in settlements and urban areas face different, but equally significant, barriers to safety, rights, and essential services.
In refugee settlements, established humanitarian structures provide an important protection infrastructure, but these systems are under severe pressure. Reduced funding, growing populations and overstretched services are affecting access to food assistance, health care, education, livelihoods, legal support, and specialised protection services. Women and girls face persistent risks of gender-based violence, while children are increasingly exposed to school dropout, child labour, and exploitation. Persons with disabilities, older people and new arrivals face additional barriers to accessing appropriate assistance.
In urban areas, refugees often live outside traditional humanitarian service structures. While cities may offer greater proximity to markets, employment and public services, access does not necessarily translate into inclusion. High living costs, insecure housing, informal employment, documentation barriers, and limited humanitarian assistance can push households into increasingly precarious situations. Urban refugees may also struggle to identify and access specialised protection services within already stretched national systems.
These findings underline the need to move beyond a one-size-fits-all refugee response. Protection strategies must reflect the distinct realities of settlement and urban displacement, strengthen national and local systems, expand access to legal assistance and documentation, and ensure that funding decisions do not leave refugee populations or locations systematically underserved.
Sustaining Uganda’s progressive refugee protection framework will increasingly depend not only on maintaining legal commitments, but on ensuring that refugees can meaningfully exercise their rights in practice.
