Health needs and challenges of women and children in Uganda’s refugee settlements: Conceptualising a role for social work

Hadijah Mwenyango; George Palattiyil

doi:10.1177/0020872819865010

Health needs and challenges of women and children in Uganda’s refugee settlements: Conceptualising a role for social work

Hadijah Mwenyango^*
, George Palattiyil

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

With 1.36 million refugees, Uganda has witnessed Africa’s highest refugee crisis and is confronted with the subsequent protection and assistance demands. The Government of Uganda with partners are trying to support refugees to overcome the associated debilitating health conditions and recently shot to prominence in refuge management. Despite this, there are still gaps in health service provision for refugees. This paper discusses the health situation of refugee women and children living in Uganda’s refugee settlements, explores the existing health service gaps and argues that there is a need to extend the role of social work in health services for refugees.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1535-1547
Number of pages	13
Journal	International Social Work
Volume	62
Issue number	6
Early online date	9 Sept 2019
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/0020872819865010
Publication status	Published - 1 Nov 2019

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

health
health services
refugees
social work
Uganda
women and children

Access to Document

10.1177/0020872819865010

Palattiyil_ISW_2019_HealthNeedsChallengesWomenChildrenUgandaRefugeeSettlements
This is the accepted manuscript version of the article "Health Needs and Challenges of Women and Children in Uganda’s Refugee Settlements: Conceptualising a Role for Social Work" which has been accepted for publication in the journal "International Social Work" published by SAGE publishers.
Accepted author manuscript, 305 KB

3 Invited talk
1 Participation in conference
1 Research and Teaching at External Organisation

Migrants’ and Refugees’ Health: Sexual and Reproductive Health
Mwenyango, H. (Invited speaker)
27 Nov 2025
Activity: Academic talk or presentation types › Invited talk
Ethics, Human Rights, and Right to Health of Migrants
Mwenyango, H. (Chair)
16 Oct 2025
Activity: Academic talk or presentation types › Invited talk
Edinburgh Napier University
Mwenyango, H. (Visiting lecturer)
26 Feb 2025
Activity: Visiting an external institution types › Research and Teaching at External Organisation

Cite this

@article{9503f9a9399243dfa5d846dbbc0efd94,

title = "Health needs and challenges of women and children in Uganda{\textquoteright}s refugee settlements: Conceptualising a role for social work",

abstract = "With 1.36 million refugees, Uganda has witnessed Africa{\textquoteright}s highest refugee crisis and is confronted with the subsequent protection and assistance demands. The Government of Uganda with partners are trying to support refugees to overcome the associated debilitating health conditions and recently shot to prominence in refuge management. Despite this, there are still gaps in health service provision for refugees. This paper discusses the health situation of refugee women and children living in Uganda{\textquoteright}s refugee settlements, explores the existing health service gaps and argues that there is a need to extend the role of social work in health services for refugees.",

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Y1 - 2019/11/1

N2 - With 1.36 million refugees, Uganda has witnessed Africa’s highest refugee crisis and is confronted with the subsequent protection and assistance demands. The Government of Uganda with partners are trying to support refugees to overcome the associated debilitating health conditions and recently shot to prominence in refuge management. Despite this, there are still gaps in health service provision for refugees. This paper discusses the health situation of refugee women and children living in Uganda’s refugee settlements, explores the existing health service gaps and argues that there is a need to extend the role of social work in health services for refugees.

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KW - health

KW - health services

KW - refugees

KW - social work

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KW - women and children

U2 - 10.1177/0020872819865010

DO - 10.1177/0020872819865010

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JO - International Social Work

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IS - 6

ER -

Health needs and challenges of women and children in Uganda’s refugee settlements: Conceptualising a role for social work

Abstract

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Activities

Migrants’ and Refugees’ Health: Sexual and Reproductive Health

Ethics, Human Rights, and Right to Health of Migrants

Edinburgh Napier University

Cite this