Libby Collier, an organizer for GuluWalk: Los Angeles and a friend of Uganda-CAN, reports from California -

The sky was grey as the crowd was gathering. But by 2:00pm the sun was breaking through the clouds as over 100 people gathered in Los Angeles in the heart of the San Fernando Valley to march in solidarity for children that are forgotten and have no voice, at least not one most of the world is listening to.

The event began with a few words before the walk by the GuluWalk organizers and brief prayer by the respected pastor Johnson Okema from Lira, Uganda. After walking 3.2 miles, the walkers arrived at Woodley Park. A platform with various leaders from the local Ugandan community as well as the president of the California Ugandan Community organization were present. The keynote speaker was Marilee Dunker-Pierce, the daughter of World Vision Founder, the late Bob Pierce. After the park venue, the crowd walked back to the Ugandan Community Church and then viewed several audio/ visual presentations detailing the conflict. A small group slept on the cold floor of the hall like the night-commuters do every night of their lives. Those who attended will not be the same as now they know the real work for lasting peace has only just begun!

In an interview today with allAfrica.com, southern Sudanese president (and vice-president of Sudan) Salva Kiir discussed the challenges southern Sudan faces in rebuilding after decades of war. He cited the continued presence of LRA rebels in the region a threat to security and redevelopment.

Kiir also urged LRA leader Joseph Kony to return to Uganda, lay down his arms, and negotiate a settlement with the Ugandan government. However, he advocated joint Sudan/Uganda military operations beyond the Red Line to pursue him if Kony failed to negotiate. Read more of the interview here.

The Daily Monitor reports that Betty Bigombe, the chief peace negotiator in northern Uganda, has praised the international GuluWalk as a successful campaign to open the eyes of the international community to the suffering of people in northern Uganda.

In an interview on BBC TV news, Bigombe said, "It has drawn the attention of the international community to know what is going on and put it in their schedules." Bigombe participated in the Washington DC GuluWalk, which was organized by the Uganda Conflict Action Network.

Today's Daily Monitor reports U.S. and British military experts have joined the hunt for leaders of the Lord's Resistance Army. On 18 October, experts traversed traversed West Nile to scour intelligence leads and assess the prevailing security situation in the region.

This military reconnaissance follows reported infiltration of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels into the jungles of the neighbouring Oriental province of northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo and parts of southern Sudan. There have been rising fears in local security circles that the rebels could launch a military offensive in parts of northwestern Ugandan anytime, inspite of thousands of Ugandan troops amassed to shield the porous frontier areas with the two countries.

A source said the military attaches were on the ground to assess UPDF’s capability and explore how their respective governments could help bolster the anti-LRA campaign. They visited Koboko district and Oraba Customs Post at the Uganda/Sudan border. Read more here.

An editorial in today's Daily Monitor argues that the recent spate of LRA attacks on humanitarian organizations in northern Uganda strengthens the case for renewed peace talks between the rebels and the Ugandan government. The author points out that because a military solution to the problem is unlikely to be successful, peace talks and reconciliation must be pursued with renewed vigor.

The editorial also discusses some of the potential consequences of the attacks, such as decreased humanitarian aid to IDPs and delays in implementing plans to decongest IDP camps and remove land mines from the war zone. Read more here.

The Daily Vision reports that the UPDF has claimed to kill about twelve LRA rebels in Kitgum, Pader, and Lira districts in the past week.

Northern Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels have long enjoyed the cover of southern Sudan, from where they regularaly attack villages and convoys in Sudan and launch offensives into northern Uganda. With peace between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan Peoples' Liberation Army (SPLA) prevailing throughout the region, however, LRA forces face new challenges to maintaining Sudan as their base of operations. They have become the chief perpetrators of violence and destruction in southern Sudan, and as such also a primary target for SPLA commanders.

Archbishop Paolino Lukudu Loro of Juba diocese in southern Sudan reiterated the urgency of dealing with the LRA in a panel discussion today at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. LRA rebels, he said, have attacked food convoys, stolen emergency relief supplies, shot at truck drivers, and attacked numerous towns and villages. He also emphasized that the rebel group maintains its ties to the Government of Sudan and continues to receive their support.

Archbishop Loro further noted the lack of a strong response from the Government of Uganda. "It seems that the Ugandan government is not serious to talk peace," he said. The UN and international community must step up their involvement in this situation if the crisis in northern Uganda is to be resolved and peace in southern Sudan is to be lasting.

In today's Daily Monitor, Brenda Kamulegeya writes a provocative Op/Ed, titled "Consider north as your own tragedy," in which she calls on all Ugandans to act for peace in their own country. She writes, "Enough is enough: This is the message that was passed on to the world on Saturday, October 22, 2005 during the International Gulu Walk day. 41 cities around the globe participated including Kampala and Gulu."

She further writes, "The time to act is now. This calls for renewed effort from all including Government, civil society, intellectuals, students, the general public and the world at large. It is not enough that we raise awareness and fundraise for the "night commuters" in Northern Uganda It is time to seek peace as well. Reconciliation should be our driving force. How long shall the Northern region continue to be raged by war and suffering? We all have a stake in this issue and it is high time each one of us played a role lest history judges us." Read more here.

Reuters AlertNet reports that relief agencies working in northern Uganda are halting their operations following the recent attacks on aid workers by suspected Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels. Various relief agencies had also decided to limit their work to towns and protected camps for internally displaced people. These included Oxfam, Medecins Sans Frontiers-Holland (MSF-Holland) and Christian Children's Fund (CCF).

However, President Yoweri Museveni, whose government has been fighting the LRA for nearly two decades, urged humanitarian workers not to "panic", saying the insurgency was almost ended. "We are going to handle those robbers," Museveni told reporters at a news conference in the capital, Kampala, on Thursday. "Those (LRA) are very small groups, they are more or less like robbers."

William Bionx Akena, Uganda-CAN news correspondent in Gulu town, reports -

World Vision is one of many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that has suspended its operations in the regional districts and to areas beyond 8 kilometers out of towns. World Vision lead coordinator Mr. James Otim told Uganda-CAN today that what happened in Pader was very unfortunate and that it would slow down their operations in the region.

He said this is the first time that the LRA has been targeting NGOs in the region. Finally, he remarked sadly that this will mean more suffering for the people of northern Uganda, who rely on NGOs for basic necessities.

The IRIN News Service of the United Nations has given updated information on the humanitarian aid workers killed yesterday in northern Uganda.

Three separate attacks on aid workers in the region resulted in the death of the two individuals on Wednesday and the injury of four others, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said. OCHA said one of the dead was a staff member from the NGO Caritas. He was shot dead in an ambush as he rode on a motor with a colleague about 8 km north of Kitgum town. The second was killed in neighbouring Pader District when suspected LRA rebels ambushed aid workers from the Agency for Cooperation and Research in Development (ACORD), killing one and critically injuring two.

On Tuesday, a vehicle belonging to the Christian Children's Fund (CCF) had been attacked in Okwango, Lira District. Two CCF staff were injured in that attack - one of whom was in intensive care. "The vehicle, which carried CCF-Uganda identification, was reportedly sprayed with bullets," OCHA added.

Reacting to the attacks, the British charity Oxfam expressed deep concern that the ICC warrants might actually prolong the conflict in which the LRA claims to be fighting Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's government. Click here for more.

Three seperate attacks on aid workers have taken place in three different districts yesterday and today in northern Uganda in what appear to be coordinated activities of the Lord's Resistance Army.

The attacks took place on workers of Christian Children's Fund, Caritas, and ACORD. Two of the attacks were within ten kilometers of Pader and Kitgum town centers. Two people have been confirmed dead and another two injured. All UN staff have suspended their activities.

Uganda's New Vision reports that police and military personnel are undergoing training exercises to prepare them to de-mine northern Uganda next month. Mines are to be removed to prepare the way for decongesting the region's camps for displaced people.

“We are beginning with Soroti district and then roll out the programme to Lira. Our aim is to have IDP camps at parish level of about 20,000 people. This will enable them to grow their own crops and bring them nearer their homes,” Martin Owor, of the Prime Minister's office, said.

Uganda-CAN applauds these efforts and calls for them to be expanded across all districts in northern Uganda. Recent reports estimate that over 1000 people are dying per week in the camps due to poor conditions. Moving people closer to their land will allow for more careful camp plannnig and for camp residents to be productive.

The New Vision reports that the Lord Resistance Army’s deputy Vincent Otti, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), yesterday called MP Odonga Otto (Aruu) to inquire about his fate.

Otto said Otti called him at about 11:15am from an undisclosed location. He said he sounded depressed after Otto told him that the international community was looking for him following the issuance of arrest warrants against him and four other top LRA commanders.

Meanwhile, LRA rebels killed eight people yesterday in the eastern DR Congo, in the Garama national park.

The Daily Monitor reports that people in the northeast West Nile region of Uganda have expressed panic at the ease and swiftness with which the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels sneaked over vast areas of South Sudan into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Questions are arising over the competence of Uganda's intelligence to detect and forestall subversive activities.

That a whole band of 370 fighters of LRA led by their much-feared Deputy Commander, Lt. Gen. Vincent Otti could pass via the SPLA-controlled South Sudan safely is baffling because Uganda has been a longtime ally of the SPLA, who surely couldn't have aided the rebels. Many have pointed fingers at the Sudanese government

In fact, Ugandan intelligence officials say that a Sudanese government Antanov plane dropped supplies to the bandits at Dimo as they relocated to Congo, through Kagulu - southwest of Yei town. Read more on these unfolding dynamics here.

The Liu Institute for Global Issues at the University of British Columbia has released a new report, entitled "A Generation at Risk: Acholi Youth in Northern Uganda." The report describes how a lack of specific governmental or non-governmental programming to target displaced youth has placed them in a particularly vulnerable situation.

Challenges faced particularly by youth include food insecurity, HIV/AIDS vulnerability, forced recruitment into the Ugandan military, abduction into the LRA, domestic violence, sexual violence, and torture. The report concludes with recommendations for humanitarian agencies and the government.

AllAfrica reports that Gang Obong Obur, a documentary about northern Uganda directed by Ugandan filmmaker Robby Wodomal, won the inaugural Golden Impala Award at the second annual Amakula Kampala International Film Festival. Gang Obong Obur, which means "Our Homes Have Become Ghost Villages" in the local Luo language, was filmed in Kitgum district. It focuses on the night commuters in the area who walk into Kitgum town each night, and also highlights abducted children, inadequate humanitarian aid, and the difficult process of amnesty.

Uganda-CAN congratulates Mr. Wodomal on his prize, and thanks him for his efforts "to tell what the people have lost because of the war." Read more about Gang Obong Obur here.

Read a narrative of the the October 22nd GuluWalk in Toronto in today's Daily Vision. Opiyo Oloya, a Ugandan living in Canada, writes of the solidarity felt among the walkers with the children of northern Uganda as they participated in this "unprecedented civil action." Read more here.

The Daily Monitor reports that Uganda's State Minister for Defence Ruth Nankabirwa has denied claims by the DR Congo that LRA commander Vincent Otti and other LRA rebels are no longer in country. She stated that they have returned to the DR Congo after briefly leaving several weeks and renewed Uganda's call for joint military operations to apprehend them.

Uganda-CAN urges the Ugandan government to pursue a less aggressive and more cooperative relationship with the DR Congo, and to reaffirm its committment to respecting its territorial integrity.

Uganda-CAN finds recent calls from human rights watchdog Amnesty International to repeal the Amnesty Act in Uganda, which prevents abducted children from being prosecuted, troubling. Below is the text of the letter sent to AI:

It has come to the attention of the Africa Faith and Justice Network through its Uganda-CAN campaign that Amnesty International has recently called for the Ugandan government to repeal the Amnesty Act of 2000. Additionally, AI has also stated that "the [Government of Uganda's] Amnesty Act offering immunity from prosecution to former members of the armed opposition must not apply to those suspected of taking part in abuses of humanitarian and human rights law." Uganda-CAN is deeply concerned about the underlying assumptions of AI's position and its implications for the peace process in northern Uganda.

According to recent reports, as much as 80% of the Lord's Resistance Army's (LRA) ranks are composed of child soldiers abducted from their homes. As AI reports have confirmed, abducted children are often forced to participate in ritualized killing as part of their induction. Girl-children, in addition to forced soldiering, are often forced to become sex slaves to LRA commanders. Clearly, as AI reports have argued, these children should not be prosecuted for the crimes that they have committed. In light of this, it is troubling that AI would advocate a repeal of the 2000 Amnesty Act, which protects these child soldiers from such prosecution.

» Read More

Kevin Sites, in the Yahoo Hot Zone, has been covering the conflicts that plague our world today and what can be done to help end the violence. This week, his focus has been northern Uganda and Uganda-CAN has the privilege of sharing the "How to Help" section with organizations like UNICEF, Gulu Walk, CARE Uganda and Doctors without Borders.

Check out Kevin's site here for photo essays and even a mini-documentary on northern Uganda.

Rain did not stop over 1,000 people from participating in Toronto's 12.5 kilometer GuluWalk this weekend. "It's way better than we expected in this weather," said Bradbury regarding the turnout. "We certainly hoped to have two, three thousand people out [in good weather], but to have over a thousand in a downpour for the entire two and a half hour walk was phenomenal, way beyond expectation." Read more here.

Last weekend, students at the University of Virginia took to the streets of Charlottesville to lead one of the 43 GuluWalks around the world for the children of northern Uganda. "We need to show solidarity, as most Western nations see the war [in Uganda] as a lost cause, just another war in Africa," said fourth-year College student and GuluWalk participant Jenne Chapman. Read about their efforts here.

An opinion piece by a Ugandan government official in The New Vision declares that an end to the northern conflict is in sight. The official writes, "AS the war in the north comes to an end, the question to ask is: what next for the north. Our brothers and sisters in the north have suffered a lot under the hands of terrorist LRA."

The editorial concludes, "Our next target as a government is to come out with a post-rehabilitation programme for northern Uganda. Negotiations on this project are ongoing under the Office of the Prime Minister. This will involve resettling the population that now lives in camps and helping them lead a normal life. There will be need for more focus in the north in terms of programmes in education, health, water and sanitation, income-generation and rehabilitation of the young people, who have known nothing but war and running to save themselves from abductions." Read more here.

Reuters AlertNet reports that four parliamentarians from the UK visited northern Uganda earlier this month to witness the impact of the 19-year old war on the people of the region. MP Mark Simmonds said, "The impact of watching the thousands of children entering Gulu every night for safety and security, some having walked 17 kilometres was uniquely disturbing. I found this scene distressing and left with determination and resolution to do all I can to facilitate a solution.’ The MPs also met with Pres. Museveni and UN officials in Uganda.

Nearly 300 people walked through the pouring rain in Washington, DC for the Global GuluWalk day. Participants set off from the Ugandan embassy and processed more than four miles to a vigil on the lawn of the White House. They were joined by tens of thousands of other GuluWalkers in more than 40 cities around the world.

As participants streamed into a park for the vigil after the walk, they were greeted by the sound of Uganda's night commuter children singing at a center in Gulu town, recorded by Uganda-CAN team members in June. Though the rain did not make for an enjoyable walk, participants were reminded by speakers at the vigil that the children make such walks every night and every morning, often with little food, no shoes, and propelled by terror and fear.

Speakers at the vigil included Chief Peace Mediator Betty Bigombe, Ambassador Edith Ssempala, and former child soldier Charles Bongomin. On a hopeful note, Bigombe reiterated to the crowd that her efforts to mediate would continue; even though recent indictments for top LRA leaders from the International Criminal Court make negotiations difficult, there remains an urgent need to reach out to mid- and lower-level LRA.

Walk organizers hope that the event will spark an international constituency committed to seeing an end to the unnecessary suffering in northern Uganda.

The South Bend Tribune reports that some 300 people walked Sunday afternoon in symbolic solidarity with thousands of Ugandan children who commute from their homes to safe havens every night to avoid kidnapping.

"It's a small step, but it's an important starting step," said Uganda-CAN director Peter Quaranto, who organized the GuluWalk with Lindsay Hero. Large numbers of students from Indiana University South Bend and Penn High School joined the walk. "We're just one piece of that much larger campaign calling for world attention and action to bring an end to this horrific war. This needs to get on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council. We're calling for it to become a foreign policy priority."

The Harvard Crimson reports on the work of Uganda-CAN's Nandita Dinesh to organize the Boston GuluWalk this Saturday. More than 90 people—including members of the Harvard community—braved the cold and rain to raise awareness of the so-called “night commuter” children of northern Uganda in Boston’s first-ever “Gulu Walk” on Saturday.

Both students and local residents alike carried signs along a six-mile route through Cambridge before convening in the Winthrop House Junior Common Room to swap strategies for making a difference and to hear from a representative of the African Union.

Dinesha said her interest in the war came from a summer spent in Uganda with the School for International Training. She visited some of the rehabilitation centers in Lira for children who have escaped from the LRA. “It’s pretty intense, when you see this kid and know that he’s killed someone,” she said. That intensity, she said, impelled her to join the Uganda Conflict Action Network and become involved with Gulu Walk.

The George Washington University Hatchet newspaper has published an article on the work of Uganda-CAN's Jackie Burgess on the GW campus and throughout Washington D.C. to advocate for peace in northern Uganda.

Jackie was one of the 10 people who slept on a park bench in Lafayette Park after the Washington's GuluWalk Saturday. She did not even know about the civil war until she arrived in Uganda earlier this year. She had gone there to study the affects of decentralized health care on human resources and deal with water sanitation. "I saw how bad it was, and how cheap it could be to build a boar hole that could sustain a community," she said, referring to a contained location where the water is clean and sanitized. "I just knew I wanted to do something back at home."

The New Vision reports that Uganda has secured US $99million from the UN coffers to rehabilitate the war-torn north, a UN children’s agency official has said. UNICEF country representative Martin Mogwanja said they made a US$180m humanitarian appeal this financial year, but have only received 55% of it (US$99m).

“The northern war is an issue that occupies us day after day. We have requested the Security Council to put the issue of violation of children’s rights in the north on its agenda,” Mogwanja said.

The skies became a bit friendlier and the rain stopped today as 350 walkers gathered on the University of Notre Dame's campus for the South Bend/Notre Dame GuluWalk, organized by the Lindsay Hero and myself of the Uganda Conflict Action Network. People of all ages marched through the cold for the stolen children of northern Uganda. It was a truly moving sight, and the words of Father Joseph Isanga of Uganda said it best: "If only the people of northern Uganda could see all of the people here in a small city in the state of Indiana, caring about their plight..."

In my speech at the end of the walk, I said, "The time for peace has come. It is deeply moving to see so many of us gathered here today, thousands of miles away, but standing in solidarity and refusing to accept a status quo of neglect and scandal. Today is just the beginning of a much longer walk that we commit ourselves to until the guns of northern Uganda fall silent." Click below to read the whole of the speech.

In the coming days, Uganda-CAN will seek to compile reports from many of the walks throughout the world this weekend as a testament of hope of a global civil society increasing engaged and committed to peace in northern Uganda.

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The Sudan Tribune reports that southern Sudan ushered in its new autonomous government yesterday, fulfilled a key element of the peace deal between southern rebels and the Khartoum-based central government signed in January. The Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), formerly the chief southern Sudanese rebel group, took 70 percent of the ministries in the newly formed government, while other southern parties and the ruling northern party took 15 percent each. The capital of the new government will in the southern city of Juba.

The January peace agreement ended two decades of civil war between the primarily black animist and Christian south and the Muslim Arab-dominated central government of north. It also calls for a federal governing system, wealth sharing, transition to democracy and a referendum on southern secession after six years. Read more here about the involvement of the LRA and Ugandan government in the conflict and its relevance to peace efforts in northern Uganda.

William Bionx Akena, Uganda-CAN correspondent in Gulu, reports -

Over 6,000 children from the various night commuter centers in Gulu district participated in the long awaited Gulu Walk. The chief walker was the chairman LC5 Gulu district local council, retired colonel Walter Ochora Odoch. He was accompanied by the chairman of Acholi Religious Leaders' Peace Initiative, His Worship John Baptist Odama, the Archbishop of the Gulu archdiocese. Other prominent participants included John Prendergast, a Senior Adviser of the International Crisis Group, and author Christopher Hitchens.

The 5km walk that started from Gulu district council hall continued through the streets within Gulu municipality, and ended up at Kaunder Grounds in Gulu town. Micheal Otim of the NGO forum, the coordinator of the walk, said last night that different members of the NGOs operating in Gulu spent the night with the night commuters at different commuting centers.

On behalf of the night commuting children, Flora Abola, 13 years old, thanked all the NGO's and partners who have endeavoured in helping them. She asked all concerned parties to end the war, since children and mothers have borne the much of its consequences. "How long then are the children as the future generation of this region going to be killed? I appeal to the international communty to come and help the plight of children," she said.

The Daily Monitor ran two letters to the editor today urging the international community to recognize the role of actors besides the LRA in causing the conflict in northern Uganda. Specifically citing the UPDF and Sudanese government, these letters raise important questions as to where international attention, recently focused on the LRA because of International Criminal Court arrest warrants for five top leaders, should also be directed in the search for peace and justice in northern Uganda.

Note: The views of the authors do not necessarily reflect those of Uganda-CAN.

William Bionx Akena, Uganda-CAN correspondent in Gulu, reports -

Ten rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army were killed in a fierce battle with the Ugandan military at the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan. Recent reports have emerged that rebels near the border have been crossing back and forth, and Uganda's foreign minister has formally requested that the Ugandan military be allowed into the Congo to carry out joint operations with Congolese and UN troops in the area against the LRA.

Captain Paddy Ankunda, a defense and army affairs officer, says the battle took place at Lasu village in southern Sudan,18 kilometers north of Uganda. Captain Ankunda says the rebels killed were part of the group that attacked Ugandan soldiers in southern Sudan over the weekend.

Betty Bigombe, the chief peace negotiator in northern Uganda, will participate in the Washington D.C. GuluWalk this coming Saturday. Last year, Bigombe left a distinguished position at the World Bank to negotiate with one of the world’s worst war criminals, Joseph Kony, and the government of Uganda. Bigombe’s role is crucial in the peace process. "This is the toughest challenge of my life. I can’t tell you when the killing will stop. I can say that I will continue until it does," Bigombe recently said.

The Washington GuluWalk, organized by Michael Poffenberger and Reid Rector of the Uganda Conflict Action Network, will begin at 3:30 pm at the Ugandan Embassy and end at Lafayette Park, right outside the White House. Ugandan Ambassador to the United States Edith Ssempala will also participate in the walk.

With the Gulu Walk getting closer, it is receiving a lot of attention from the media. I expect this to increase in the next few days as hopefully many eyes worldwide will be opened to the cause.

• GuluWalk Day - Vancouver
• 41 cities worldwide confirmed for 'GuluWalk Day', October 22 - Montreal
• World to walk for Ugandan war children - Reuters UK
• Commute for Uganda's children - Philadelphia
• A Walk to Resuscitate Hope - Toronto

Reuters AlertNet reports that thousands of people around the world will walk this in this weekend's GuluWalk in solidarity with Uganda's "night commuter" children who trudge into towns every sunset to avoid kidnap by Africa's most sinister rebel group.

In a campaign organised by two Canadians, people in 47 cities from Beijing to Boston will symbolically recreate the Ugandan children's nightly trek by walking into their town-centres on Saturday night, sleeping rough and returning at first light. Uganda-CAN has worked with the GuluWalk to organize walks in cities throughout the United States. Read more here.

The UN News Service reports that attacks on civilians in southern Sudan by elements of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) remain a major concern of humanitarian agencies operating in the area.

Humanitarian access to affected areas remains limited, preventing agencies from forming a clear picture of the numbers of affected populations and delivering much-needed assistance to them, according to the mission, known by its acronym UNAMIS.

Reuters AlertNet reports that Ugandan foreign minister Sam Kutesa has called for joint military operations against the LRA with forces from the DR Congo and UN peacekeepers stationed there. Although a band of 300-400 LRA rebels led by Vincent Otti camped in the DRC returned to Sudan several weeks ago, local aid workers in the DRC said that smaller groups of LRA rebels continue to cross between the two countries.

It is unclear what Kutesa meant by "joint operations", which may reignite fears in the DRC that Uganda wants to send troops directly into the country to pursue the rebels. Tensions ran high several weeks ago when Uganda threatened to unilaterally send troops into the DRC to disband the Otti-led rebels, causing memories of Uganda's damaging involvement in the DRC's civil war during the 1990s to resurface.

The Sudan Tribune reports that LRA activity in southern Sudan is hampering the ability of humanitarian assistance to reach the area. The UN envoy to Sudan, Manuel Aranda da Silva, also said that fear of LRA attacks was preventing many southern Sudanese refugees from returning to their homes. Read more here.

Rosebell Kagumire, Uganda-CAN guest news correspondent in Kampala, reports-

Besides decades of violence, northern Uganda continues to suffer from high rates of chronic poverty. A recently released report by Chronic Poverty Research Centre Uganda shows that two in every five households in northern Uganda are chronically poor and that thirty seven percent of Uganda's chronic poor live in northern Uganda.

Chronic poverty is a state in which people own nothing and persistently lack basic necessities such as food, shelter, clothing, bedding and healthcare. It is often a cyclic affliction, effecting successive generation of the same family.

“Poverty in Uganda continues to be geographically concentrated with the north and east having the largest proportions of poor. About 37 percent of the poor live in northern region" read the report in part. The report also says that despite government efforts, the number of Ugandans living below poverty line- on less than a dollar per day -has increased from 34 percent in 2001 to about 39 in 2005.

It’s estimated that about 7.1 million Ugandans live in chronic poverty and one third of chronically poor households are in northern Uganda. According to the report national poverty levels are estimated at about 39 percent while those in northern Uganda stand at 66 percent. Districts with the highest number of the chronic poor are Kotido, Kitgum, Moyo and Apac.

Most Ugandans in the north have blamed the situation on the 19-year-old war in the area.

Because of the LRA insurgency and the prevalence of IDP camps, most government policies like the Poverty Eradication Action Plan and Poverty Alleviation Fund have not benefited the people in the north. Initiatives to help the chronic poor in the region such as the Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (NUSAF) have been politicised and have achieved little.

While micro finance institutions have helped many in other parts of the country, the chronic poor in the north cannot access these loan schemes because they lack securities and assets.

Women, people with disabilities and the elderly continue to constitute the largest percent of the chronic poor in Uganda.

The South Bend Tribune has published a story on the work of two Uganda-CAN leaders, Peter Quaranto and Lindsay Hero, to organize the South Bend/Notre Dame GuluWalk set to be one of more then 40 walks happening this weekend for peace in northern Uganda.

"I have high hopes that the people of South Bend will turn out in large numbers to decry this awful assault on human life, especially the most innocent of human life, children," Uganda-CAN Director Quaranto said. "This is an opportunity for all of us to remind ourselves that we are connected to our brothers and sisters in Africa and responsible for one another." To read the full article, click here.

While I'm sad to say I won't be attending a Gulu Walk this weekend, I plan instead to track and post updates on this blog about it as it happens.

Today's international coverage of the Global Gulu Walk:

• GuluWalk: On foot for the children of Uganda - New York
• What's On - Events: GuluWalk Day UK - Conventry, UK (Warwick University)
• Gulu readies for global walk (Gulu)
• Over 40 cities worldwide to embark on walk for suffering children in Uganda - via Reliefweb, from XINHUA (The People's Republic of China's official news agency!)
• Wendy Glauser: Rebels aren't the worst of what Uganda has to deal with

More coverage to come tomorrow, stay tuned!

Peter Quaranto and Michael Poffenberger, Uganda-CAN director and advocacy coordinator, report from New York City -

The people of northern Uganda have new reason to hope not only because Betty Bigombe, the chief peace mediator will continue her efforts to broker a peace process, but also because of the launch of a new international campaign yesterday, titled Act for Stolen Children in Northern Uganda.

Yesterday at the United Nations building in New York, the Act for Stolen Children mass media campaign brought together government leaders, UN bodies, NGOs, Ugandans and other supporters in New York to released a signed declaration in support of a peaceful resolution to the conflict. The advent of the campaign signifies unprecedented collaboration between grassroots, non-governmental and governmental organizations working for peace in northern Uganda.

Betty Bigombe, the most anticipated speaker of the day, proclaimed that even with the release of ICC indictments for five LRA commanders, she will continue her work to broker a peace process in northern Uganda. "I am looking at the possibility of repackaging the peace process," Bigombe said. "I am in the process of analyzing and understanding what is doable and what is not doable, what pull factors can be used to bring out those not indicted." Bigombe expressed fear that the death or arrest of LRA leader Joseph Kony may not mean the end of the war.

She called on the campaign to build and strengthen advocacy so "the eyes and mind of the international community are on northern Uganda." She remarked, "When I see what the world is doing for Darfur, I become so envious."

The cry from the others speakers of the day was for international action to protect civilians and bolster the mediation efforts of Bigombe. John Prendergast, special advisor to the President of the International Crisis Group, remarked, "Now is the time to press forward with a comprehensive peace proposal that would end the war once and for all."

Carol Bellamy, former head of UNICEF, remarked particularly on the plight of children in this war. "During my ten year at UNICEF, few things moved me as seeing the child 'night commuters' of northern Uganda."

Olara Otunnu, former U.N. special representative for Children and Armed Conflict, went a step further and declared that "genocide is unfolding in northern Uganda." He said, "Children, as a matter of policy, are condemned to a life of darkness." He called upon the United Nations to increase engagement and the take the lead to stop this "genocide," while also calling upon the whole international community to uphold its "responsibility to protect."

The "responsibility to protect" was highlighted by others, particularly Canadian Ambassador to the UN, Allan Rock, who declared that the United Nations Security Council should add this "neglected humanitarian crisis" to its agenda. Ambassador Rock declared that the failure to protect civilians by the Ugandan government demanded action by the international community.

And that is where the Act for Stolen Children campaign comes in - coalescing international civil society to advocate and demand international action to end this longstanding conflict and humanitarian crisis. The next step for the campaign will come this weekend with the GuluWalks set to happen in more than 40 cities around the world.

The Uganda Conflict Action Network is a supporter of the Act for Stolen Children Campaign and partner of international GuluWalk.

Uganda-CAN's latest opinion editorial, co-authored by director Peter Quaranto and advocacy coordinator Michael Poffenberger, was featured in Monday's Daily Nation, Kenya's largest newspaper. The Op/Ed, titled "Peace is Possible in Northern Uganda," reads, "The Government of Uganda is poised to make a choice about the future of the country: whether it will move forward towards lasting peace and national reconciliation or whether the post-independence cycle of division and rebellion will endure." Click here to read more.

ReliefWeb reports that the Ugandan president, Yoweri Museveni, reiterated Tuesday in a press release his government's commitment to ensuring that all internally displaced persons (IDPs) in north return to their homes soon following the steady dawn of peace.

Addressing residents of Lapainat IDPs' Camp in Gulu district, Yoweri Museveni said the Uganda People's Defense Force (UPDF) is hunting the last remnants of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) terrorist of Joseph Kony deep inside Sudan where they have fled.

The Daily Vision, Uganda's most widely read newspaper, features the upcoming October 22nd Global GuluWalk Day in today's edition, calling it the "largest ever international push for peace for this all-but-forgotten 19-year-long civil war in northern Uganda." Global GuluWalks are being planned in over 40 cities around the world to show solidarity with the 40,000 "night commuters" of northern Uganda. Read more about Global GuluWalk Day here.

News24 reports that Betty Bigombe, the Ugandan government's chief mediator with the LRA, has urged the international community to renew its efforts to work towards a peaceful resolution to the 19-year conflict. Earlier this month Bigombe commented that recent International Criminal Court arrest warrants for LRA leader Joseph Kony and four other LRA commanders had destroyed hopes they would surrender. However, she said that other LRA commanders and child soldiers can still take advantage of amnesty offers.

Bigombe, speaking at the launch of Act for Stolen Children's campaign to end the war, said that the two essential elements of any peace deal would be "programme(s) to reintegrate LRA members and kidnapped children back into society, including psychological counselling, and a reconciliation programme because people are deeply divided over the war, even within families."

William Bionx Akena, Uganda-CAN news correspondent in Gulu town, reports -

The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels ambushed a pick-up truck Monday afternoon along Patongo Adilang Road in Pader District. The 5th Division Public Relations Officer Lietenant Kiconco Tabaro confirmed the ambush to Uganda-CAN and said four people had been killed.

Northern Uganda is currently being featured on Hot Zone, a project recently launched by Yahoo! to report on current conflicts around the world. Visit the Hot Zone website to read dispatches from northern Uganda and see video clips and photo journals of night commuters and HIV/AIDS victims in northern Uganda:
background to the conflict
night commuters
HIV/AIDS in northern Uganda

Reuters Alertnet reports that TASO, a HIV/AIDS support organization based in Uganda, has announced that the number HIV/AIDS victims in Uganda is overwhelming the country's ability to provide adequate amounts of drugs and assistance to them. Although HIV prevalence rates have dropped considerably in Uganda in the past decade, many people are just beginning to develop AIDS and require prolonged treatment.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic has hit especially hard in northern Uganda, where nearly two decades of conflict have prevented effective prevention and treatment campaigns. HIV prevalence rates in northern Uganda are very high owing to the concentration of people in IDP camps, lack of livelihood opportunities, and the difficulties AIDS support groups such as TASO encounter in impoverished and dangerous camps.

The New Vision reports that two UPDF soldiers were shot dead on Friday when Lord's Resistance Army rebels ambushed the convoy of the UPDF 79th Battalion commanding officer, Lt. Col. John Byoma, on the Yei-Maridi road in Sudan.

Army spokesman for West Nile Capt. Anech Mubangizi said between 30 and 40 rebels, part of the group that fled from the DR Congo under pressure from Congolese and the UN peacekeepers, staged the 4:00pm ambush. They burnt a military car.

The Daily Monitor reports that Kofi Annan, United Nations Secretary General has called on the Lord's Resistance Army rebels to give up the 19-year-long rebellion after the World Criminal Court indicted five of the rebel leaders.

"The unsealed warrants should send a powerful signal around the world that those responsible for such crimes will be held accountable for their actions," Annan said adding, "All eligible LRA combatants should take advantage of existing disarmament and reintegration programmes."

"We are mindful that many of those associated with the LRA were abducted as children and are therefore victims themselves, in need of assistance," Annan further said.

Annan also condemned the on-going violence in northern Uganda and called on all concerned to cease atrocities.

William Bionx Akena, Uganda-CAN news correspondent in Gulu town, reports -

Over 2000 former rebels have reported back home in Pader district over a period of two years. Resident District Commissioner for Pader, Sylverster Opira, revealed this to Uganda-CAN in an interview last Friday. He said many of the returnees have been reintegrated into their families' homes. He appealed to those still in the "bush" to come back home and benefit from the amnesty offered by the government under the Amnesty Act of 2000.

Uganda-CAN calls on the Government of Uganda to continue its commitment to publicizing and fulfilling the Amnesty Law of 2000 as the primary means to disarm and reintegrate the thousands of children abducted and forced to fight by the Lord's Resistance Army.

William Bionx Akena, Uganda-CAN news correspondent in Gulu town, provides analysis and commentary -

The views of this writer are not necessarily those of the Uganda Conflict Action Network.

The Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (NUSAF) is a project being funded by the World Bank to a tune of over 100 million US dollars during its first phase of 5 years of operation
for the 18 districts of northern Uganda affected by the war.

Unfortunately, the program that is meant to help in the reintergration of the population is only ending up in the hands of a few individuals.

NUSAF money is mostly spent in very expensive workshops where participants are paid 140,000 shillings for a one-day workshop, while communities have applied to access money to run small projects costing as little as 7 million shillings. Yet, 20 million shillings is being spent to organize workshops so that NUSAF can promote its image to the outside world.

I do not therefore see why the World Bank should waste so much money in trying to help poor people when the people cannot even access it.

NUSAF is yet another project of the Ugandan government under the World Bank funding that will collapse if not changed to really benefit the local population.

William Bionx Akena, Uganda-CAN news correspondent from Gulu town, reports -

The death of the former Ugandan president Dr. Apollo Milton Obote one week ago shocked the masses in Gulu district. The president who led Uganda to its independence on the 9th of October 1962 was seen as a hero to many elders in Gulu.

The International Criminal Court officially unsealed five arrest warrants for top LRA officials including Joseph Kony. These warrants, the first ever issued by the court, "were issued on ... 8 July under seal to ensure the safety or physical or psychological well-being and to prevent the disclosure of the identity or whereabouts of any victims, potential witnesses and their families," ICC said.

Betty Bigombe, the chief peace negotiator in northern Uganda, has publicly claimed these warrants are a serious blow to the peace process. Attempts at amnesty, the option Bigombe feels is most likely to bring peace, could be harmed by the ICC warrants.

Others, such as Richard Dicker, an attorney for Human Rights Watch, believe the ICC warrants are the first chance in northern Uganda for justice.

"It opens the door to justice for the people in northern Uganda who have suffered for nearly 20 years in the hands of the LRA," he said.

Read more at Reuters and check out Uganda-CAN's Political Advocacy plan for Peace in Northern Uganda.

The US embassy in Kampala is reporting the launch of a new five year program focused on furthering the control of Malaria. The program is aimed at the most vulnerable populations in Uganda, including those in the northern region.

The Ugandan Ministry of Health has said site visits have already been carried out in Kitgum to assess the project needs before implementation. The first stage of the new program will be focused entirely on northern Uganda, and more specifically within the IDP camps.

Click here to learn more from Reuters or ReliefWeb. Check out Uganda-CAN's Speak Out page to see how you can get involved!

Act for Stolen Children, working on the international GuluWalk Day set for October 22, has released a 60-second promotional video for the historic event. Watch the moving video now by clicking here!

A campaign to bring attention to the plight of children abducted by rebels in northern Uganda is set to kick-off on October 18 at the United Nations in New York. Dubbed Act for Stolen Children in Northern Uganda, the Canadian-led campaign aims to create awareness and increase emergency response to the crisis in northern Uganda.

Erin Baines, who started the campaign after spending three years conducting research in northern Uganda, says the Ugandan government has not been able to protect people in the camps and the international community has been mostly silent about the situation, hence the need to bring the campaign to the doorsteps of the UN.

"The Security Council is stubborn in keeping it out of the agenda," says Ms. Bains, adding that this is mostly because Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni is considered a prime example by the West of economic reforms in Africa and is rarely criticized. The aim of bringing the campaign to the UN is to remind world leaders of the Responsibility to Protect resolution (R2P) which calls on nations to collectively intervene to prevent genocide, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.

"[This resolution's] never been tested," says Ms. Baines. "And what better case than northern Uganda where 90 per cent of the population is internally displaced and live in camps?" Find out more information.

The World Food Programme is reporting that unless funding for food relief efforts are increased substantially by December, 1.45 Million people in northern Uganda could experience extreme shortages of food. The agency is calling for an urgent $58 million in new funds for the over 135 camps in the region.

Decades of forced internal displacement have led to an extreme lean on the WFP for the survival of nearly 90% of northern Ugandans. "This is a major operation to assist people whose livelihoods have been crushed by decades of a cruel conflict," said Daly Belgasmi, director of the WFP's Geneva office, after returning from a visit to the area.

Read more at Reuters, here, and check out Uganda-CAN's Take Action section to find out how you can help.

A report released by the Chronic Poverty Research Centre and the Development Research and Training (DRT) cites the war in northern Uganda as a leading cause of chronic poverty in the area. The report goes on to reveal other underlying causes of chronic poverty, such as poor governance and isolation from decision-making and development initiatives. Read more at the Daily Monitor.

Although the findings in this report may seem obvious, it is necessary to firmly establish the extent of the suffering in northern Uganda in order to motivate the Ugandan government to take action. The Ugandan government has been historically reluctant to admit the extent of suffering in northern Uganda, and has recently tried to discredit reports from the World Health Organization and Human Rights Watch that attempted to expose the immense scale of the humanitarian disaster permeating northern Uganda.

During the two decades of history to the conflict in northern Uganda, one of the central challenges that has likely led to the prolongation of violence has been the lack of civic engagement about the war from normal Ugandans, especially in the South, where political activity is centered. Northern and southern Uganda in many ways are two very distinct entities.

The Forum for Democratic Change, Uganda's leading opposition party, has released its positions on how to navigate the path to a future stable peace. Uganda-CAN does not endorse any political party or candidate, but merely wishes to see that the war, and the suffering it is causing, becomes an election issue.

Read below for the full platform of the FDC regarding the path to peace in Uganda.

» Read More

Reverend Sam Childers, an American drug addict turned born again pastor, has been running an orphanage and rescuing children from the LRA in southern Sudan since 1998, reports SudanTribune.

Childers traveled to Sudan after hearing the horror stories of child soldiers in the region. Trained in the U.S. military, Childers employs numerous armed Sudanese who he joins in battles against the LRA. Children captured in the battle are taken back to Childers' orphanage where they receive medical treatment and are able to spend time healing.

Sam may soon face an increase in the intensity of his operations, as the dynamics of the LRA situation in southern Sudan are rapidly changing. Nearly 400 LRA forces led by Vincent Otti recently crossed back into Sudan after a brief hiatus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, reportedly chased out by Congolese troops. The Ugandan military was recently granted free passage to anywhere in Sudan where the LRA is hiding; previous limitations on their operations in Sudan prevented them from chasing down LRA leader Joseph Kony. The release of indictments by the International Criminal Court this week undermines any significant opportunity for peaceful resolution of the conflict.

The BBC News Service reports that the Sudanese government has given the Ugandan army unlimited access to fight Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels based in Sudan. The move follows last week's indictment of five LRA rebels by the International Criminal Court.

Until now the army could not go beyond a so-called "red line", about 100km (62 miles) into Sudanese territory. The Khartoum government backed the LRA until the end of Sudan's civil war, but the rebels remain active - their latest attack was reportedly on Friday. Read more here.

The New Vision reports that Betty Bigombe, the chief mediator between government and rebels, has said that the issuing of international arrest warrants for elusive Ugandan guerrilla leaders has ended any chance of negotiating an end to 19 years of civil war.

“There is now no hope of getting them to surrender. I have told the court that they have rushed too much,” she said. Bigombe said she had been trying to persuade Kony to end his revolt under an amnesty from the Kampala government. “The last one month, the whole situation, has been very depressing for me,” Bigombe added. “I am really not sure what I will do next.”

Bigombe said International Criminal Court Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo had told her he was confident Vincent Otti, deputy commander of the LRA, could be arrested soon in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). However, UN peacekeepers reported on Friday that DRC army officials said Otti’s group had fled back to Sudan.

At this critical moment, Uganda-CAN urges the Government of Uganda to maintain its commitment to the Amnesty Act of 2000, seeking opportunities for a peace process to end this war. We urge the international community, particularly the U.S. government, to bring sustained engagement to mediation, disarmament and reconciliation efforts in northern Uganda to achieve a lasting peace.

IRIN News reports that the UN has confirmed rumors that a group of LRA rebels led by Vincent Otti has returned to Sudan. Lt-Colonel Thierry Provendier, military spokesperson for the UN's forces in the DR Congo, confirmed claims from Congolese officials that deployment of Congolese troops in the area had caused the rebels to flee back into Sudan. A Congolese army official said that "faced with huge deployment of soldiers from the Congolese army the LRA rebels panicked and on Thursday fled the DRC from where they came."

The New York Times reports that Betty Bigombe, the mediator between the Ugandan government and LRA rebels, has criticized the International Criminal Court's decision to issue arrest warrants for LRA leader Joseph Kony and four other LRA commanders. She said that the warrants would prevent Kony and the other commanders from taking advantage of amnesty offers from the Ugandan government and thus would create an incentive to keep fighting, adding that "there is now no hope of surrender."

The Sunday Monitor also reported on the issue, quoting Bigombe as saying, "How can the ICC charge Uganda to arrest Joseph Kony when they have failed for the last 19 years?". Gulu-based Archbishop John Baptist Odama, also the head of the Acholi Religious Leaders Initiative, and Justice Onega, the head of Uganda's Amnesty Commission, also expressed concern that the ICC warrants would hinder Bigombe's efforts and discourage rebels from accepting the amnesty offer. Although the Ugandan government said that the amnesty offer is still open for non-indicted rebels, it may be become irrelevant and ineffectual if the LRA commanders commanding them cannot take advantage of it.

Daniel Wallis of Reuters reports that Uganda's Lords Resistance Army (LRA) rebels are now officially among the world's wanted men, however he questions whether arrest warrants by the ICC will bring them any closer to justice.

Now, in its first indictments, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has targeted the LRA leadership, but many doubt it will have any impact on the ground. Over the years, Kony has slipped away from every danger, including a helicopter gunship raid on his headquarters last year when the military said he left four wives and 13 children behind. Many in northern Uganda, including some government troops, believe the elusive rebel chief uses magic to escape.

A landmark mediation effort by former minister Betty Bigombe seemed to be bearing fruit late last year when the government and LRA representatives met in the bush. But those efforts stalled, although Bigombe has spoken to Kony by telephone since.

Bigombe had been a vocal critic of the ICC, accusing it of arrogance and lack of transparency, and had said she would end the peace process the moment warrants were issued. Western governments who supported her with logistics and funding said that effort now appeared to be over.

The Weekly Observer has printed an Op/Ed written by Stephen Okello, Uganda-CAN's director of operations in Uganda. In the article, titled "Foreign Aid Ought to Focus on Peace," Stephen writes, "Because the majority of African conflicts are ethnic and internal in nature, for peace-building to be successful, governments must engage in dialogue with international, national and local groups with the capacity to manage fragile political transitions. This can be possible through practical donor pressure and legitimate local activism with a vibrant civil society." Read the whole text of the Op/Ed here.