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Uganda

This is a brief description of what started the conflict in this region. This is meant to provide you with history on the conflict. Updates on these conflicts are happening constantly. I post updates for all three regions on my UPDATES page, almost daily.

The war in northern Uganda has been called the most neglected humanitarian emergency in the world today. The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Ugandan government have been at war for the last 21 years. Two million innocent civilians have been caught in the middle.

“The LRA rebel movement can be traced back to a woman named Alice Lakwena. In the 1980s, Lakwena believed the Holy Spirit spoke to her and ordered her to overthrow the Ugandan government for being unjust to the Acholis. Lakwena and her followers, known as the Holy Spirit Movement, gained momentum as resentment toward the government increased. When Lakwena was exiled and no clear leader of the movement was left, Joseph Kony, who claimed to be Lakwena’s cousin, took control and transformed Lakwena’s rebel army into the LRA.”

Kony’s tactics were more extreme. As their support began to dwindle, the rebels resorted to abducting children and forcing them into their ranks. “It is estimated that more than 90% of the LRA’s troops are children.”

“In 1996, as a response to the LRA attacks in the villages, the Ugandan government forcibly evicted thousands from their homes and relocated them into overcrowded camps in hopes of providing protection. But over a decade later roughly 1.5 million individuals live in these camps and struggle to survive among the effects of abject poverty, rampant disease, and near-certain starvation. © Invisible Children 2008
© Invisible Children

In recent years more and more international attention has been focused on this crisis. In 2001, the US Patriot Act officially declared the LRA to be a terrorist organization, a huge step in drawing attention to the conflict and the atrocities committed by the LRA. In 2004, Congress passed the Northern Uganda Crisis Response Act, the first piece of American legislation to address this disaster. And in 2005, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Joseph Kony and four of his top commanders.

Pressure from the international community and a strong desire to realize peace has brought the Ugandan government and the LRA to the negotiating table on numerous occasions.

A temporary truce between the Ugandan government and the LRA has held for more than a year, and as peace continues to progress, many nations, including the US, have appointed special envoys to oversee this process. This current cessation of hostilities marks the longest period of peace in the North for more than 20 years, and while the hope for peace is strong and the talks have made significant strides in reducing the conflict, a declaration for lasting peace has yet to be signed. In Gulu and the surrounding districts, issues concerning the nature of justice for victims and perpetrators for war crimes are presently being debated.

With peace now in sight, greater focus is being placed on the aftermath of the conflict. Currently the majority of northern Uganda’s population lives in IDP camps, and while the desire is for them to return home, the issues surrounding their return are complex. Some have been displaced for more than a decade, and their former ways of life are all but gone. Access to clean water, economic opportunities, health centers, and education are a pressing concern in daily life and even more so for the many who contemplate a return to resource-barren villages.”
www.invisiblechildren.com

About the LRA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lords_Resistance_Army

UPDATE - Peace in Uganda is still at great risk as Joseph Kony has continually failed to show at several peace talks and negotiations and the peace agreement has expired. Reports of abductions are still occurring and most of the displaced people still cannot return home because there are no basic needs there, such as water and food. Beyond that, there seems to be landmines placed in areas that people are returning home to. It was recently reported that seven children were killed from a cluster bomb after they returned home.