GuluWalk.com has officially announced the launch of the Global Gulu Walk to take place on Saturday, October 22nd in cities around the world!

Walks will be 4 to 8 miles in length and will be followed by outdoor sleepouts. The event is taking place to draw attention to the plight of children who commute daily from their homes in camps for the displaced into larger towns, where children sleep on sidewalks, under verandas, and in large tents to escape abduction at the hands of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).

"Every night, every morning the children of northern Uganda walk for their lives.
On Saturday, October 22 we're walking to tell their story."

Email global director Adrian Bradbury to sign up your city for a walk, or Reid Rector if the walk will be in the U.S.

The New Vision reports that the UPDF graduated 112 former rebels, including 48 former LRA soldiers, from a six-month compensatory Officer Basic Course at the Jinja Military Academy today. UPDF spokeman Lt. Col. Shaban Bantariza said that the military has plans to train more former rebels.

From the beginning of the LRA rebellion, the Ugandan military has pursued a very aggressive engagement strategy against the LRA. However, the 'military solution' has been unable to stop the 19 years of rebel activity in northern Uganda or address the root causes of the resentment towards the central government that many northern Ugandans feel. Many observers of the conflict believe that part of the Joseph Kony's and other LRA commanders' motivation to fight is mistrust of Pres. Museveni and the UPDF and fear that they are committed to a winner-take-all military solution to the conflict. Hopefully, news of the UPDF training former LRA rebels is a sign that such an aggressive and narrow approach will be replaced with one not only better equipped to make peace with the LRA, but to make peace with the people of northern Uganda.

According to the Associated Press, rebels from the Lord's Resistance Army ambushed a truckload of civilians Thursday near Kalongo, killing three children and four men. In response, the army counterattack killed three rebels. The violence and killing continues in northern Uganda even after 19 years.

I am happy to report that this week we have surpassed $1,000 USD in online donations. A special thanks to everyone who donated!

In a recently released documentary, “Night Commuters: Uganda’s Forgotten Children of War," Human Rights Watch is sending a powerful message to the world about the plight of Uganda’s lost generation of children. Accompanied by a photo essay and many powerful resources, Human Rights Watch is working to unleash the truth behind these invisible children. Click here to learn more from Human Rights Watch.

Cholera, an intestinal infection from the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, has plagued IDP camps in northern Uganda for an increasing amount of time. Akena Charles and Michael Okello from Uganda's Monitor reported today that 805 cases of the infection have been documented in Gulu alone since early this year. Read here the devastating news about the outbreak in northern Uganda. Click here for more information from the World Health Organization on Cholera throughout the world.

The New Vision reports that the Parliament of Uganda passed two bills yesterday to amend Uganda's constitution. Among the provisions included in the bills are lifting presidential term limits, creating regional governments, and making Kampala Uganda's capital city. The bills must now be approved by the president and two-thirds of the district councils to come into effect.

The most controversial of the provisions, lifting presidential term limits, will have significant repercussions for peace efforts in northern Uganda. The provision would allow current president, Yoweri Museveni, to run for a third term, which many experts think he will do. President Museveni is a key figure in the history of mistrust between the LRA -and all northern Ugandans- and the central government since 1986. A third term for President Museveni may further stunt peace efforts in northern Uganda unless efforts are redoubled to foster cooperation and trust-building between all actors involved in the conflict.

The China Daily reports that the Ugandan Army has killed 40 LRA rebels in the past 3 days in a series of air raids in northern Uganda and southern Sudan. Military equipment was also confiscated from the rebels.

Although many may welcome news of the LRA's weakening, it comes at a heavy price. Up to 80% of the LRA's ranks are filled with child soldiers abducted from their homes in northern Uganda. It is likely that many of the 40 rebels killed were such child soldiers. Cases such as this put a sobering twist, too often ignored in media reports, on reports of successful military operations that are often portrayed as positive development in the northern Ugandan conflict.

A report released last week by UN children's agency UNICEF notes that 25% of children in northern Uganda are not enrolled in primary school, even though the country offers free and universal primary education. The phenomenon is due to a myriad of factors, all revolving around the war, Reuters reports.

"Out of an estimated 25,000 children abducted by the LRA since the conflict began, UNICEF reported, approximately 7,500 were girls, of whom 1,000 had conceived children during captivity," Reuters writes.

Popular Ugandan journalist Andrew Mwenda was arrested on Friday and charged today with sedition, reports Reuters AlertNet. The arrest came after Mwenda hosted a talk show that featured a discussion about Uganda's handling of the recent death of Dr. John Garang, First Vice President of Sudan. The arrest of Mwenda was preceded by the closing of K-FM, the radio station that employs Mwenda, Thursday by the Uganda Broadcasting Council. All of this came following a statement earlier in the week by President Museveni that media houses that threatened national and regional security would not be tolerated.

Read the Reuters AlertNet article here. Also, read the BBC's reporting on Mwenda's arrest.

The Government of Uganda has shut down a very popular local radio station, 93.3 KFM after threatening to close media houses that threaten regional and national security. The government particularly singled out the popular, controversial Tonight with Andrew Mwenda Live talk show where panelists the day before had questioned the public holiday to honor those who died in the tragic crash that killed Dr. Garang. Read the news at AllAfrica.com.

Reuters AlertNet reports that President Museveni is threatening to shut down three national newspapers, claiming that these newspapers are a threat to regional security.

President Museveni, in a memorial ceremony, proclaimed, "I will no longer tolerate a newspaper which is like a vulture. Any newspaper that plays around with regional security, I will not tolerate it - I will close it." President Museveni further proclaimed that the tragic death of Dr. Garang will not empower the LRA, which operates out of southern Sudan.

Reuters reports more details on joint plans between former Sudan Peoples' Liberation Army leader John Garang and Ugandan President Youweri Museveni to flush Lord's Resistance Army rebels from their hiding places in southern Sudan.

"Kony won't be hiding there for long," Garang said before leaving Kampala several days ago. "It is not only Kony, but also all the militias who have been operating in the area. We need to provide peace, security and stability."

Garang's helicopter crashed in the mountains of southern Sudan, killing all on board. His death instigated rioting throughout Sudan and widespread fears of a return to the civil war that has plagued the country for more than twenty years. Former joint plans between the governments of Uganda and Sudan to defeat LRA forces in Sudan are now clouded in uncertainty.

Our petition for peace in northern Uganda has already been signed 384 times online. Thanks to Carolyn Davis' editorial today in the Philadelphia Inquirer (free registration required), we have already received 16 online signatures this morning. (She actually helped us draft the petition.) And this of course doesn't count those who are printing the petition and mailing it in.

If you haven't yet signed the petition, please click here to sign it now. If you already have signed the petition, please do whatever you can to help spread the word!

Update #1 (2:40 PM EDT): We have now received 416 total online signatures. A special thanks to all Philadelphia Inquirer readers who have signed today. Keep 'em coming!

Update #2 (10:20 PM EDT): We have now received a total of 448 online signatures. More than 75 of these were today. Thanks again to everyone who signed. We still have a lot of work to do to get to 100,000!