KAMPALA – President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has received a delegation from the African Union (AU), currently in the country to evaluate Uganda’s bid to host the African Union Humanitarian Agency.

Uganda submitted its bid under the auspices of the African Union which was accepted and is now being evaluated by the team that paid a courtesy call to the President.

Uganda is competing against Kenya, Equatorial Guinea, and Nigeria to host the AU Humanitarian Agency, according to a release from the Presidential Press Unit- PPU.

The delegation hosted at State House on Tuesday is led by Prof. Julio Rakotonirina who is also the Head of Health Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development at the African Union.

According to the release, President Museveni who welcomed members of the delegation to Uganda shared views with his guests about the establishment of the Agency in Uganda.

President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni met a delegation from the African Union Assessment Mission headed by Prof Julio Rwakatonirina. (Credit: PPU)

He expressed his optimism that Uganda will win the bid.

“Uganda on the humanitarian front, has done more, especially in hosting African refugees who are 1.6 million which is one of the highest in Africa,” he said at the meeting where the government delegation included: Vice President, Jessica Alupo and the Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka.

Uganda comes second in hosting a large number of refugees after Ethiopia which has 3.6 million.

The Assembly of the African Union at the 11th AU Humanitarian Symposium that sat in Nairobi, Kenya in November 2023, adopted a decision to establish a Humanitarian Agency as part of the African Union’s vision to strengthen its Human Architecture.

The mandate of the African Humanitarian Agency is to ensure effective coordination of humanitarian action in the Continent. b) Strengthen the capabilities and capacities of AU Member States and Regional Bodies and Mechanisms in responding to and resolving humanitarian crises.