Today, we finalize our series on "What's at Stake in the Juba Peace Talks?" by examining what's at stake for YOU in this peace process. Over the last two or three years, so many of YOU have come to deeply care about the situation in war-torn northern Uganda. Maybe you visited Gulu and were touched by the people you met there. Maybe you were moved by the story of two Canadians who walked 12km and slept outside each night for a month to tell the story of the child "night commuters." Maybe you saw Invisible Children or Uganda Rising, or maybe you saw the feature story on northern Uganda in the LA Times. Whatever your story, it's become connected with the stories of families in northern Uganda.

As more and more of YOU have come to care, we've joined together to demand attention and lobby our political representatives to help end this war. Tens of thousands of YOU in cities around the globe walked in GuluWalk Day in 2005 and 2006. Over 60,000 of YOU slept outside last April in the Global Night Commute. Thousands of YOU have participated in Uganda-CAN's political action drives. Thousands more of YOU have bought name tags with The Name Campaign or hosted screenings for Invisible Children at your school, church or community. Together, we've overcome international neglect and built momentum for a final end to this horror.

Last summer, we all cheered when the Government of Uganda and LRA agreed, under the mediation of South Sudan, to participate in peace talks. We called this "the best opportunity in over a decade to end the 20-year war in northern Uganda." Hundreds of YOU joined us in Washington D.C. for the Lobby Day to press the U.S. Government to support the peace process. Thousands more of YOU have called or written your political officials to urge them to strengthen the talks. Your hard work has made a difference, and northern Uganda has finally had hope that this war is coming to an end. Yet now our resolve is being tested. Peace talks are stumbling and may collapse without strong international backing to build confidence in the process. Our hard work of two years has brought us to this point. And so now, more than ever, we ask YOU: what's your stake in ending the war in northern Uganda?

In the coming weeks, we need YOU to tell your family, friends and especially political representatives what's at stake in the Juba peace process. Even with all the stakes we've explained over the last seven days, the peace talks remain a low priority for the international community. Only one thing can change that: YOU.

Today, we continue our series on "What's at Stake in the Juba Peace Talks?" by looking at United States Government (USG) interests and investments in the region. Dating back to the Clinton Administration, the USG has seen Uganda as a strategic ally in a hostile region. This relationship was only strengthened after September 11, 2001 when President Museveni became one of the first African leaders to pledge his support of the Bush Administration and the U.S. invasion of Iraq. As a result, in the last five years, U.S. foreign military financing (FMF) and international military education and training (IMET) to Uganda have increased. The USG has also established a military air base at Entebbe airport. In addition, direct U.S. arms sales to East Africa and the Horn of Africa countries have increased from under one million dollars in 2003 to over $25 million in 2006. Weapons sales by authorised private weapon companies have also soared. Uganda leads the region with nearly $9 million in purchases from US authorised private arms dealers.

The relationship described above would seem very militarized, however there is more to US-Uganda relations. U.S. development assistance to Uganda has increased significantly over recent years: from $68.82 million in 2001 to $111.35 million in 2002 to $174.02 million in 2003. In 2006, according to The State Department, the USG provided "nearly $90 million in assistance to address the humanitarian crisis, peace initiatives, rehabilitation and development needs in northern Uganda." The USG has further given large amounts of assistance to democratization efforts in neighboring DR Congo, implementation of Sudan's CPA and humanitarian relief to Darfur. These have been investments for a more stable Great Lakes Region and Horn of Africa; peace could spark invigorated counter-terror efforts and expanded trade (incl. oil in southern Sudan and recently discovered in Uganda's Hoima district).

A successful peace process would not only save the USG money, but also provide a much better return on investments. Peace in northern Uganda will bolster the fragile CPA in Sudan and deescalate tensions in DR Congo. This will greatly benefit regional counter-terrorism initiatives, democratization and trade. However, with all this potential, the USG has remained largely silent on the Juba peace process and unwilling to provide needed support. This is irresponsible given the breadth of USG investments and involvement in Uganda. Especially now with the talks nearly collapsing, the USG could pressure Kampala to control UPDF activity in south Sudan, strengthen the Cessation of Hostilities Monitoring Team, and provide technical assistance to the mediator. The stakes are too high for the region and USG interests to allow this opportunity to slip away.

Today, we continue our series “What’s at Stake in the Juba Peace Talks?” with a look at the influence of the peace process on the simmering conflict in Karamoja, the northeastern region of Uganda. Karamoja’s conflict is rooted in a history of arms proliferation, politicized ethnic conflicts and cattle rustling and fiercely-resisted disarmament programmes launched by the Ugandan military. Since the summer of 2006 the latest wave of military "cordon and search" operations have destroyed homesteads and granaries and resulted in the death of thousands of cattle. Resistance to the program crystallized in late October after a fierce battle between military forces and Karamajong warriors.

Civilians in northern Uganda have born the brunt of the suffering caused by the violence. The insecurity, combined with uncommonly bad droughts, have severely stressed food security and forced many to flee the region. Less than 20% of children in Karamoja are in school, compared to a national average of more than 80%. UPDF soldiers and Karamajong warriors have been implicated in gross human rights abuses during the fighting, including extrajudicial executions, rape, illegal arrests and detentions, torture, forced labor and extortion of money. The Ugandan government has denied allegations that its disarmament programme is heightening insecurity in the region.

The proliferation of arms in the region from conflicts in northern Uganda, southern Sudan, and Somalia has also fueled Karamajong cattle raids in the neighboring Iteso and Acholi regions of Uganda, undermining the Juba peace talks by making northern Uganda less secure and safe for IDPs to begin returning home. If the Juba peace talks succeed in bringing stability to northern Uganda despite this, the Ugandan government might be encouraged to seek a peaceful solution to the violence in Karamoja. However, a failure of the parties to the Juba talks to come to an agreement would greatly hamper efforts to address the arms proliferation, political tensions and humanitarian crisis in Karamoja.

Today, we continue our series on "What's at Stake in the Juba Peace Talks?" by examining the impact of the talks on peace and stability in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Toward the end of 2005, the LRA crossed over into northeastern DR Congo from southern Sudan. Based in Garamba National Park, a group of the rebels killed eight UN peacekeepers in January 2006. This fighting caused over 20,000 Congolese refugees to cross into Uganda. Since, there have been few accounts of LRA attacks in the area, but LRA presence in DR Congo has reignited hostility between Kinshasa and Kampala, along with adding another potential source of instability to DR Congo's conflict-laden eastern region.

Since 1998, more than four million people have been killed in eastern DR Congo as a result of rebel fighting, and invasions made by the armies of Uganda and Rwanda. A ruling in late 2005 by the International Court of Justice requires Uganda to pay $10 billion in reparations for crimes committed and resources plundered in Congo. Officials in Kinshasa have remained worried that the Ugandan army may again cross the border to access the rich resources. Fortunately, the presence of the UN Mission in Congo (MONUC) and a fragile peace process have brought some stability to the region in recent years. Last summer, Congolese went to the polls in an election hailed as the most important for Africa since South Africa's elections in 1994. Though there were minor instances of violence, the election was declared "fair and free." On 6 December, Joseph Kabila was sworn in as the first democratically elected president of the country.

Now as the DR Congo seeks to consolidate peace and democracy within its borders, the presence of active LRA rebels in Garamba poses a significant threat. In addition, the UPDF has already made plans to attack the rebels there if peace talks collapse. Such cross-border fighting has the potential to reignite a wider Great Lakes conflict. The Juba peace process has the potential to deescalate these hostilities and bring a peaceful resolution to this insecurity. If the talks collapse, it would be no overstatement to say the LRA will pose a deadly threat to regional peace and security.

In our continuing series on "What's at Stake in the Juba Peace Talks," we are asking for your ideas, stories and reflections. Send them to pquaranto@ugandacan.org. Today, Stephen Okello, Uganda-CAN's Ugandan operations director, shares his insights:

"I am writing to add my voice on behalf of those most affected by the war in northern Uganda. The stalled peace negotiations mediated by the government of southern Sudan between the GOU and the LRA paints yet another dark cloud on the future of the people of northern Uganda. Peace is what we need most, yet it seems to be the most difficult to achieve so far. For so many, the peace process in Juba still presents a rare opportunity for peace in northern Uganda. In fact, there is no time in the history of the war that the LRA and Government of Uganda have ever come close like they did in the recent past...

...In the recent years, there has been a lot of international humanitarian relief coming into northern Uganda in response to the conditions people are living in. But there has been no political understanding on the part of the international community. Why is that? It took more than a decade for the UN to make a substantial statement on the war in northern Uganda. The international community, providing more than half of Uganda's national budget, still looks on silently as the Government of Uganda commits human rights violations and stumbles in its commitments to protect its people in the north."

The success or failure of the Juba peace talks has implications not only for northern Uganda, but also for the surrounding region. Two years ago, Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) agreed to a pact to end the decades-long civil war in southern Sudan. The pact, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), also boosted hopes for an end to the LRA rebellion in northern Uganda, which has been fuelled for over a decade by the military support and rear bases in southern Sudan provided by the NCP.

However, implementation of the CPA has been sporadic, and it remains uncertain whether the agreement will hold. The SPLM/A, which now leads the semi-autonomous Government of South Sudan (GOSS), lacks the institutional strength needed to implement the pact and rebuild the war-torn region. The NCP does not seem committed to the agreement, instead fearing that national elections in 2009 and referenda in 2011 could lead to the secession of South Sudan, which has vast oil deposits. The NCP depends on oil revenues from South Sudan to fund its security forces – including the janjaweed militias that are currently terrorizing the western region of Darfur.

The LRA rebels’ presence in southern Sudan is further weakening the CPA. They continue to destabilize the region, making it more difficult for the GOSS to rebuild institutions and communities. The NCP may also try to maintain its monopoly on political power and access to oil revenues by renewing its support for the LRA in an attempt to destabilize the south and prevent its secession. However, success in the Juba peace talks would help consolidate the gains towards peace and democracy in South Sudan initiated by the CPA over the past two years, which in turn are crucial to the hopes for the stabilization of Darfur.

In our continuing series on "What's at Stake in the Juba Peace Talks," we are asking for your ideas, stories and reflections. Send them to pquaranto@ugandacan.org. Today, the founder and director of The Name Campaign, Hollywood screenwriter and one-time ABC News Person of the Week, Cori Stern shares her thoughts:

"Last week I watched in horrified fascination as the story of Shawn Hornbeck's abduction unfolded. The big news was that this guy Devlin had abducted not one, but TWO children. As I watched Oprah interview his parents, the police, experts, and everyone involved, I thought about the THOUSANDS of CHILDREN being held RIGHT NOW in Northern Uganda and the border areas. They are being sexually and physically abused. They were taken from their homes. Their parents are no less traumatized. Why don't we rise up with the same outrage and urgency for them? Is it because of the sheer number? Do we just accept it because it's simply too difficult to comprehend? Is it because it's not happening in our own country and it's easy to think of these kids as abstract 'African tragedy' statistics instead of as individual kids with the simple desire to live with their families in safety rather than terror?

Devlin and Kony are both predators. Devlin was stopped. Kony should be too. These peace talks are the closest anyone has come yet. But 'close' isn't enough."

Today, we continue our series on "What's at Stake in the Juba Peace Talks?" by looking at why this peace process is essential to consolidate and advance democratization in Uganda. Most importantly, the peace talks are the best opportunity in over a decade to end the war, which has devastated the northern region for two decades and exacerbated divisions between the North and South. Achieving a peaceful resolution to the conflict will provide space for strengthening weak judicial institutions, controlling illicit conflict trade, protecting human rights and promoting economic growth and investment. In addition, a peaceful resolution of the conflict would empower northerners to engage more effectively in national political mobilization and participation.

In the early 1990s, Uganda and President Yoweri Museveni were hailed by U.S. President Clinton and others as one success story in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, Museveni's government has come under increasing pressure of late as a result of corruption allegations, state repression of opposition political parties, and especially the recent repeal of constitutional term limits. Further, the international community has become increasingly critical of the Ugandan government's failure of its responsibility to protect its citizens in the north. Most northerners feel deeply marginalized by the current government, and many believe that Museveni has only "contained" the conflict as a means to harm and destabilize the Acholi people. For most war survivors, it is impossible to disconnect the war from national politics.

The Juba peace talks have provided an opportunity to break the cycles of mistrust and marginalization that stain Ugandan democratization. Many northerners have expressed new gratitude and good will toward Museveni's new leadership to peacefully resolve the war. In addition, the peace process has provided a forum for northerners to express their grievances and initiate processes of reconciliation. Though the LRA cannot honestly represent the wishes of people it has terrorized, it has been given a new opportunity to advance the needs and rights of northerners. A robust, accountable peace process has the potential to give new life to political democracy in Uganda; a collapsed peace process will only embed deeper mistrust and division.

Continuing with our series "What's at Stake in the Juba Peace Talks," we are asking YOU to send your stories, reflections and ideas for posting to pquaranto@ugandacan.org. Today, we feature a reflection by Courtney Howard of Lyndon, NY:

"In early January, I received an email from my friend David who lives outside of Kampala. He and I were part of a group that traveled to the north for a few days last February. He had just returned from a visit with his sister in Gulu who has been working with an Ugandan relief organization there and just recently received a degree from Gulu University. His email spoke of the feeling of relief and hope in Gulu that was a result of the peace talks. People, he said, were now able to resettle in smaller camps nearer to their homes and he observed some small business growth. The people of northern Uganda are so deserving of this hope and the loss of it would add even greater sorrow to what has been a life of tragedy.

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The Uganda-CAN Student Movement webpage is now featured on UgandaCAN.org! Information is available to help college students take action on their campuses, connect to already-existing groups and get informed about the situation in northern Uganda and advocacy efforts in the US. Check back often to learn about our featured student movement organizers and to find out what students around the country are doing in support of peace in northern Uganda!

Yesterday we launched our series "What’s at Stake in the Juba Peace Talks?" as a reminder to the Ugandan government, LRA and international community that the stakes are too high to risk a collapse of the peace process and a return to violence. Nowhere are the stakes higher than in northern Uganda. When the talks began in July 2006, over 1.6 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) were living in camps in the north, and nearly 1,000 were dying every week from violence, disease, and malnutrition. Though progress in finding a political solution to the conflict has been slow, the talks have led to much-improved security. Access to the camps for humanitarian groups has increased greatly, and over 230,000 IDPs have returned to their homes.

However, the failure of the talks to gain momentum has forced 1.4 million northerners to remain in IDP camps. Because of lingering security concerns, often those who return to rebuild homes are the heads of households, leaving disproportionate numbers of vulnerable people, such as elderly, handicapped, women and children, to remain in the camps. There they face pervasive gender-based violence, fires that damage homes, and poor access to proper water and sanitation services. A failure of the talks and return to violence would cause a massive increase in the number of IDPs and exacerbate the poor living conditions in the camps.

The Juba peace talks have the potential to end the humanitarian crisis and displacement, and are only the first hurdle northerners must face to address the monumental post-conflict challenges – reconciliation, land and food insecurity, HIV and AIDs and a failed economy – that await them. Earlier today Cate Johnson wrote about Johnny, a former child soldier in northern Uganda who is deeply afraid of what the consequences of failure at Juba are. For him and millions of other northerners, the stakes are too high for the world to allow the talks to fail.

Continuing with our Uganda-CAN series "What's at Stake in the Juba Peace Talks," we are asking YOU to send your stories, reflections and ideas for posting to pquaranto@ugandacan.org. Today, we feature our first reflection by Cate Johnson:

"I just returned from a two-week research trip in Northern Uganda. I could go on endlessly describing how failed peace talks will result in chaos and increased suffering for the people of Northern Uganda, but instead I will focus on one person. While in Gulu, I was befriended by a former child soldier named Johnny. He was abducted at age 12 and lived in the bush for five years. When he finally escaped, his whole family, except one sister, died of an ebola outbreak in a camp. Johnny, now an orphan, struggles to survive everyday. We spent a lot of time together and he often expressed his happiness with the peace talks and was eager to live in a community that was free of fear and violence. He wanted Kony to be punished, but mostly wanted safety. He wanted the UPDF to be held accountable, too. He was hopeful about Juba and thought it could be the salvation he's longed for.

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With increasing concern that the historic Juba peace talks may collapse, humanitarian organizations and Uganda-CAN have been urging members of the international community - the US and UK governments, the United Nations, the African Union, IGAD - to step up action to rejuvenate confidence in the process. However, while these bodies recognize the fragility of the talks, the issue has remained a low priority. It is hard to understand this neglect, but perhaps the stakes are just not high enough to necessitate decisive action. Yet, we believe the stakes have never been higher. Resumed violence will not only reignite the suffering of northern Ugandans, but may threaten democratization in Uganda, international counter-terrorism initiatives and broader regional peace and security.

To highlight the dangerous consequences of collapsed talks, Uganda-CAN is launching an 8-day blog series, titled "What's at Stake in the Juba Peace Talks?" Each day, we will examine one area that will be greatly impacted by the future of the peace process: from displacement in Acholiland to implementation of Sudan's CPA to stability in Karamoja. At the end of our series, we'll be launching an action for YOU to tell your political representatives why they have a stake in strengthening the Juba peace talks.

However, there's more that YOU can do: we want to hear your stories and ideas of what's at stake in the Juba peace talks. Do you know people in northern Uganda who will be greatly affected? Do you have ideas on why supporting the peace talks is in the interest of our governments? Do you have reflections on what you have at stake in the Juba process? Send your stories, reflections and ideas (please no more than 200 words) to pquaranto@ugandacan.org and we'll feature them here.