Cabinet Directs Finance Ministry to Redirect World Bank Funds to Urgent Refugee Needs

What the report says

Uganda’s Cabinet has instructed the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to work with the Office of the Prime Minister to redirect money from the World Bank’s refugee financing window toward urgent needs for refugees, according to Nile Post. The government says the priority areas include education, healthcare, water, livelihoods and other basic services. Minister of ICT and National Guidance Justine Kasule Lumumba relayed the decision at the Uganda Media Centre, saying Cabinet was responding to funding gaps in the refugee response.

The report says the move is meant to help fill shortfalls in support for refugee communities across Uganda. While the article does not give a funding figure, it presents the redirection as an effort to reach the most immediate humanitarian pressures. In general terms, refugee financing windows are used by donors and governments to support service delivery in host countries, but the specific mechanism and amount were not detailed in the article.

Cabinet also approved Uganda’s participation in COP17, the next biodiversity conference under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, set for October 19–30, 2026, in Yerevan, Armenia. Lumumba said the country would seek resources for biodiversity work and support national conservation goals.

In a separate decision, Cabinet named Jennifer Naomi Ariyunget to the board of the Uganda Development Corporation for three years. Nile Post said her legal and banking background is expected to support the state investment agency’s industrial and value-addition mandate.