OUR PROJECTS

Bidibidi is the latest settlement in an area where several refugee settlements are located: Rhino Camp (hosting 116'000 refugees), Palorinya (122'200 refugees) and Imvepi (70'000 refugees). The needs of the settlement are incalculable and the continued arrival of refugees only increases those needs.The Bidibidi refugee settlement (currently the largest refugee settlement in Uganda and one of the largest in the world) has been established in 2017 and hosts about 240'000 refugees, mostly coming from neighboring South Sudan to escape the civil war.

People with disabilities who reside in settlements face enormous challenges, as very few have access to the support they need (assistive devices, physical therapy, and community support) and many also face the discrimination that still exists against people with disabilities.

For this reason, in 2020 SwissLimbs started the construction of a rehabilitation center in Bidibidi, "The New Hope Bidibidi Rehabilitation Center", in partnership with the NGO Hope Health Action Uganda, under the supervision of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR. The center was inaugurated on March 16, 2022, during a SwissLimbs training mission to Uganda for seven local orthopedic technicians.

The rehabilitation center provides a range of physical therapy and orthopedic services to people with disabilities living in the region, as well as in nearby settlements. The center also employees 50 people trained in community-based rehabilitation (CBR), who will provide training and support to the settlement community. Finally, the center includes a mobile clinic equipped with an orthopedic workshop for the identification and delivery of services to people with disabilities who cannot travel independently to the rehabilitation center.