The tense security situation in large parts of South Sudan is forcing hundreds of thousands to flee. Youth One World offers protection to more than 80,000 people in the Palabek refugee camp.
Vienna (OTS) – 120 million people. According to the “Global Trends Report” from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), as of May 2024, more people than ever before were on the run worldwide. In large parts of South Sudan, the tense security situation is forcing hundreds of thousands of people into refugee camps in neighboring countries. The price of security is hunger. Gabriel Müller from the Austrian aid organization Jugend Eine Welt visited an exceptional project in northern Uganda on the occasion of World Refugee Day on June 20th, where more than 80,000 people receive help and learn to help themselves.
The sun shines over the sprawling refugee camp of Palabek in northern Uganda Gabriel Müller, board member of the Austrian development organization Jugend Eine Welt, arrives to assess the development cooperation that has been carried out over the years. And that makes the native of Upper Austria happy, as a sustainable training program for solar technicians was launched with the support of Jugend Eine Welt and the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), which is already bearing rich energy fruits: At the Salesian Don Boscos vocational training center, specialized training has been carried out since the start In 2019, 93 specialists were already trained in the electrical use of solar energy.
Solar panels for power supply
Electricity is in short supply in the refugee camp, which was built in 2017 and has seen a steady increase over the years and is now home to more than 80,000 people, primarily women and children as well as the elderly and disabled. “Electricity is an absolute luxury in the Palabek refugee camp, as there is no supply in the simple houses and mud huts with corrugated iron or straw roofs. Using simple solar panels, light sources are now being systematically developed, which also ensure safety at night.”
said Gabriel Müller.
Eight educational focuses
The vocational training program for young people in Palabek includes eight educational focuses: solar technology, carpentry, auto mechanics, construction, metalworking, tailoring, hair care and agriculture. What is noteworthy within the holistic training courses is not only the participation of domestic students from Uganda together with refugees from South Sudan in order to prevent social tensions through participation in society as a whole. But also the explicit focus on promoting women, which, with the support of the Austrian Development Cooperation, enables female students and especially young mothers through targeted accompanying measures to complete professional training that is recognized and in demand in Palabek and beyond. Be it by providing childcare places at the vocational school or by actively supporting students in the training process with the “Gender matters!” program.
Four kindergartens
Also unique are the four kindergartens set up by Jugend Eine Welt at critical points in the refugee camp, which currently provide 600 children – including children with disabilities – with early childhood support, carefree play and a warm meal in the morning. And at the same time enable their mothers to pursue training or daily work.
One meal a day
The life-threatening dark side of the refugees in Palabek is acute hunger. One simple meal per day is the modest average value of the supply. Food rations through the UN World Food Program have been halved amid multiple recent global crises. Hunger has a fatal impact on the health of the refugees and leads to further, secondary consequences of misery: There are currently 1,800 children in uncared for children’s households without an adult carer, as the parents risk their lives trying to produce food in overgrown fields in South Sudan – and then bring them to the security zone in Palabek. Child pregnancies are one of the consequences, as underage, unprotected girls offer sexual rewards in exchange for food. “It is an acute problem of ever-increasing proportions to which we have not yet found a comprehensive answer. But we must offer support and help to this large number of abandoned children so that they do not sink into misery in this orphaned living situation!”
, so Father José Ubaldino Andrade Hernandez, long-time Don Bosco project partner of Jugend Eine Welt and man from the very beginning in Palabek.
Please give hope!
The light and shadow of the refugees in Palabek are close together. What has been achieved together with Jugend Eine Welt is impressive and sustainable. But hunger and hardship remain great given the growing number of arrivals seeking protection and help. “Palabek is a place of hope for refugees. That’s why countless people continue to take the difficult journey and flee from crisis-torn South Sudan to the refugee settlement in northern Uganda. Please help to give the people of Palabek hope for a better life.”
asks Reinhard Heiserer, Managing Director of Jugend Eine Weltto donate. Meanwhile, the sun sets over the mud huts of the widely scattered settlements in Palabek. As if she were bowing down to the refugees’ irrefutable human dignity, courage and will to survive.
A current one ORF contribution from the program “Orientation” to help Jugend Eine Welt in the Palabek refugee camp Can you here look.
Further information at www.jugendeinewelt.at.
Youth One World Donation Account: AT66 3600 0000 0002 4000 | Password: Refugee Aid Africa | Online donations at www.jugendeinewelt.at/spenden | Donations are tax deductible!
Questions & Contact:
Mag. Thomas Zach, MA
Youth One World | Press and public relations
Tel. +4366488632574 | thomas.zach@jugendeinewelt.at