AllAfrica.com reports today on the growing numbers of children, mostly boys, who are forced to fend for themselves on the streets of northern Ugandan towns. The boys have often been orphaned by AIDS and violence, and are as young 12 years old.

In the past extended families would care for orphans, but such support networks are increasingly being unraveled by the effects of the AIDS epidemic and by nearly two decades of war. This leaves orphans to fend for themselves, often by eating food from garbage dumps and committing petty crimes - which land them in adult jails. Read more at AllAfrica.com.

Salon Magazine has published a powerful story about the children suffering in northern Uganda. Ken Davis, head of the U.N. World Food Programme in Uganda, told the press, "This is really a war against children."

CNN.com reports today on the plight of children in the crisis in northern Uganda. Calling the conflict a “war on the future,” the article details the threats of abduction, disease, and starvation that children in northern Uganda face daily. Read more at CNN.com.