Photo Credit: Refugees International/ Michelle Brown
11/10/2004

The 19-year-old conflict in northern Uganda between the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Ugandan government continues to persist. The conflict has internally displaced up to two million people. There are 1.4 million registered internally displaced people (IDPs) living in overcrowded, squalid camps without access to basic services. The Ugandan army’s continued fight against the LRA rebels has left the 90 percent of the Acholi population in these substandard camps without adequate protection or assistance. Furthermore, those displaced by the violence are still at risk of attacks and massacres by the LRA, as well as widespread harassment and abuses, including gender-based violence, by the Ugandan military. Another area of concern is that almost 90% of LRA fighters are children who have been abducted and converted into soldiers who are forced to commit heinous crimes, including murder, against their own people. Because of restrictions on movements outside the camps, IDPs are unable to plant and cultivate their own food, and are therefore dependent on food provided by the World Food Program (WFP). However, WFP is facing a shortfall and may be forced to cut rations to IDPs, placing the food security of an already vulnerable population at risk.

Former Ugandan Minister Betty Bigombe is attempting to facilitate peace talks between the government and the LRA. Currently the talks are stalled, as neither side seems truly committed to a peaceful resolution to the conflict. The LRA continues to attack civilians in northern Uganda with extreme brutality. RI recommends that immediate action be taken by the Ugandan government to ensure greater assistance and protection for displaced people, and that donors continue to support a peaceful end to the conflict in northern Uganda and generously fund humanitarian assistance programs for IDPs.

Read more about Refugees International's work in Northern Uganda.

Read more about the crisis in Northern Uganda.