Some of the people hardest hit by recent floods in Uganda were those living in camps who had hoped to return home after being displaced for years by conflict. For nearly 20 years, the north of Uganda has endured a terrible civil war, which saw hundreds of thousands of people displaced.In 2006 a ceasefire was declared and since then there have been ongoing peace talks which have led to an improvement in the security situation, allowing some people to return to their villages to rebuild their lives.

However, the devastating floods in conflict-affected areas have dashed many people's hopes of returning to normal life.

Displacement in Uganda

Mary (20) and her 16-month-old daughter have been living in the camp for five years since her village, Olialia, was attacked.

She described how the floods have affected her: "Although it is dry now the ground is always wet in my home. I cannot put my baby down anywhere and have to carry her all the time – it is so much worse than before.

"My life is very difficult; I have to rely on help from people like the Red Cross for everything. I received items such as blankets, kitchen sets and soap, which were all desperately needed but our main priority right now is food. I did have crops, mainly cassava, which I cultivated just outside of the camp, but they are submerged by water now and completely damaged.

"I just want to go back and settle in my village with my baby."

Flood relief

The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement has been responding to both the conflict and floods in Uganda. Because volunteers help their local communities, they are often the first to respond to crises. 

Volunteers from the Lira Branch of the Uganda Red Cross in the north have been responding to the humanitarian needs of people affected by conflict and are now providing flood relief to those same people.

For example, Susan (40) has been working with the Lira Branch since 2003 going to camps and villages of Northern Uganda, raising awareness of HIV and gender-based violence and talking to the communities about health and hygiene issues. When the floods swept across large areas of Northern Uganda this summer, Susan was trained and ready to respond. She said: "We were sent to the flood-affected areas where we undertook assessments of the situation, the people and their needs. We also carried out registration of people for distributions of relief items."Because of the severity of the floods, the British Red Cross has donated £50,000 from its Disaster Fund to help communities affected by flooding and is appealing for more donations to its Africa Floods Appeal.

Read about how we're responding to floods in Uganda

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