Stories

Defending Women's Rights At All Costs

Elizabeth Ashamu Deng , Oxfam’s South Sudan Regional Policy and Advocacy Coordinator, spoke with Susan Grace Duku, the women’s representative to the highest refugee leadership body in Rhino Settlement, Arua District, about challenges she has experienced as a female refugee leader and how she uses...

'There Is Nothing Like A Chance To Live In Peace'

Emmanuel spends his days in Kyakya II refugee settlement sitting in the shade of a simple wooden structure. Most people from the surrounding area know him; he is the tailor. “Not many refugees possess a sewing machine, but I brought mine from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC),” he proudly...

Prince’s Journey To Uganda

Prince has found refuge in Kyakya II only recently. His way to finding safety and security was not one without hurdles. “The soldiers brought me to a forest, tied my wrists and ankles to a chair, and left me there to slowly die,” he goes on. “After some long hours I realized the ropes around my...

For Sandra, Dreams Do Come True

Her name is Sandra and she is a refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). She came to Uganda in 2001 at the age of eight, fleeing the violence in the DRC together with her mother and sister. Sandra has been volunteering with Oxfam since April this year. “I like it,” she says. “I am...

I was scared to death - Esperanza's story

Esperanza says that one day she would like to go back to school. This is one of her biggest hopes for the future. In the DRC, she stopped studying a couple of years ago because her father could not afford paying for school fees anymore. “My dream is to become a nurse and be able to help people,”...

The Dream To Find My Family Keeps Me Strong

Kambese Mubawa is a 40-year-old from Kiwanga village, Rutushuru zone, North Kivu Province. He fled the Democratic Republic of Congo because of the conflicts in his region. He unfortunately lost some family members to these conflicts. “I watched helplessly as the rebels slit my elder brother’s...

Rising Above the Pain To Serve Others

Furaha Vasta is a 33-year-old refugee from Goma, North Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She and her family fled to Uganda because of the intertribal conflicts that have continued to disturb the residents of North Kivu.

Can You Open Fiscal Space by Closing Civic Space?

Not if you want domestic revenue mobilization to succeed Why we must not trade civic space for fiscal revenue We hope you share this blog on social media. But if you live in Uganda, it might cost you. Literally. On July 1, the government of Uganda enacted a social media tax , as well as a mobile...

Women at the Bidi Bidi refugee settlement in Uganda in May 2017 voice their concern at the 50 percent cut in cereal rations each person was receiving.

‘Refugee is just a name’: one Ugandan’s quest to help her neighbors

Growing up, Jean-Christabel Asipkwe took a different path than many of her female contemporaries in Uganda, where girls often don’t get the same educational opportunities as boys. She went to school—all the way through a master’s program in public administration—and she has her mom to thank for...