A 'Solidarity Summit' for refugees hosted by Uganda has raised some $358 million in pledges, the United Nations announced today.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres told reporters in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, that it was a “good starting point” although the international conference was looking to raise $2 billion.

In just the past year, the overall refugee population in Uganda has more than doubled, largely due to an influx of desperate people fleeing violence and instability in South Sudan – from 500,000 to more than 1.25 million – making the East African country host to the world's fastest growing refugee emergency.

Convened by President Yoweri Museveni and the UN Secretary-General, the Summit sought to rally international support for refugees and host communities in the form of donations, investments and relevant programmes, over the next four years.

Mr. Guterres noted that the World Bank and the African Development Bank had promised “innovative funding” for projects involving both refugees and the local communities.

“We cannot stop,” he underscored, recalling that several of the countries agreed to put forward their pledges in the weeks to come.

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