Background on Uganda

For over 20 years, the people of N. Uganda have been in the middle of a conflict involving the Uganda government and the rebel movement called the Lord's Resistance Army, or LRA. The LRA does not recognize the legitimacy of the current Uganda government under President Museveni and has been attempting an overthrow of the government. The LRA claims that it is doing this in the name of Christianity as well as to "free" the Acholi people of N. Uganda. In actuality, the LRA has little support for its movement and thus has resorted to kidnapping children from the region to fill its ranks. The LRA targets children as young as 6-8 and forces them into the "bush" were they are immediately desensitized. The boys are turned into brutal child soldiers and the girls are forced to become sex slaves. Eery night the children of N. Uganda have been forced to leave their homes and families and travel to the major cities, such as Gulu, inorder to escape abduction. There, the children sleep under verandas, in the bus parks, unprotected and without supervision.

In the past year, after pressure from the international community increased, a cease fire was declared and peace talks ensued between the Ugandan government and the LRA. For the first time in over 20 years peace has slowly returned to N. Uganda: night commuting is on the decline, no abductions have been reported, and the people in the internally displaced camps are beginning to return home. It is vital that the international community vocalize their support for the Juba Peace Talks so that peace can return permanently to N. Uganda.