South Sudan marks its fourth year of political unrest in December. The conflict that erupted between rival political forces has displaced millions of people, more than one million of whom have fled to neighbouring Uganda.
This photo essay illustrates the challenges – and the hopes - facing refugee children and families. SOS Children’s Villages is considering an emergency response programme for the growing South Sudanese population in Uganda.
Elizeo Adel Oting was a child protection officer in South Sudan before fleeing to Uganda in July 2016, as a new wave of violence broke out between rival political factions.
Today, Mr Adel Oting serves as a community leader for the growing number of refugees who, like him and his family, left their homes in search of peace and stability across the border.
Mr Adel Oting, his wife and four children are among the estimated 37,000 people who settled at the Palabek refugee settlement between April and October 2017.
“Our relations with the host community have been very good,” said Mr Adel Oting, 40, who studied social development as a student in Uganda. “The children play together, and they have provided us with land to grow food.”
Palabek, less than 40 km from the border, is one of the newer settlements provided by the Ugandan government for the more than one million South Sudan refugees and asylum-seekers in the country. Most South Sudanese are settled in the northern regions of Arua, Yumbe, Adjumani and Lamwo. A country of 41 million people, Uganda hosts another 350,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Somalia and other countries.
More than 60% of South Sudanese in the settlements are children, and children and women combined account for at least 80% of the refugees, according to government and UN agencies. Many of the South Sudan child refugees have suffered trauma, the loss of family and separation.
Photos by Will Boase