Coordinating food distribution, cash transfers, and community mobilisation across seven settlement zones in Rhino Camp Refugee Settlement, ensuring that the most vulnerable households receive the assistance they are entitled to, with dignity.
Rhino Camp Refugee Settlement in West Nile, Uganda, is home to hundreds of thousands of people who fled conflict in South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sudan. For many of them, the World Food Programme food assistance programme is the difference between eating and not eating — particularly for pregnant and lactating mothers, malnourished children, and households with no income of their own.
YSAT was positioned to lead this work not because it was contracted to manage a supply chain, but because its staff live inside the same settlement. They know which community structures have the trust of residents, which zones have access challenges during the rainy season, and how to communicate entitlements in ways that communities actually understand. That local presence is what turns a food distribution operation into a protection intervention.
Funding shortages during the project period reduced food rations to 70% and later 60% of the normal allocation. YSAT continued working within those constraints, ensuring that what was available reached people fairly and that feedback mechanisms remained open and functioning.
YSAT worked with refugee leaders and community mobilisers to coordinate food distribution across seven zones. Refugee committees and casual workers were mobilised to pre-package food commodities, ensuring quality control and safe, dignified distribution.
Both in-kind food and cash assistance were delivered to registered beneficiaries. The dual approach gave households flexibility to meet their most pressing needs, whether food, medical costs, or household items, while maintaining nutritional support for the most vulnerable.
Community radios, road drives, megaphones, phones, social media, and community structures were used to communicate distribution schedules, nutrition best practices, GBV prevention, and beneficiaries' entitlements across the settlement.
Post-distribution meetings and assessments gathered refugee feedback, identified distribution challenges, and assessed the nutritional needs of pregnant and lactating mothers and malnourished children. Complaint and feedback tracking was maintained throughout.
GBV prevention messaging was embedded across all community mobilisation activities. Awareness sessions addressed protection risks linked to food insecurity, and referral pathways were maintained for survivors and those at risk within the settlement.
Community dialogues were conducted across the seven zones to address distribution concerns, reinforce entitlements, and strengthen the relationship between beneficiaries, YSAT, and implementing partners.
Individuals received food and cash assistance
Individuals received in-kind food assistance
Individuals received cash assistance
Settlement zones covered across Rhino Camp