A report released this week by Civil Society Organizations for Peace in Northern Uganda (CSOPNU) highlights the need to disarm former LRA rebels and other civilians possessing illegal arms in order to achieve a sustainable peace in northern Uganda. CSOPNU, a coalition of 77 local and international NGOs, cautions that failure to improve security and build trust between the Ugandan government and LRA could hamper efforts to reduce the proliferation of small arms in the region. Already armed robberies by criminals have been on the rise in northern Uganda, even forcing some displaced persons who have gone home to return to displacement camps. A representative of the Ugandan government expressed support for the report’s recommendations, saying, "The Government is determined to develop northern Uganda, with or without Kony's signature (on the peace deal). We negotiated in good faith so we are acting for the good of the people in the region." Read more at allAfrica.com.

One of the most overlooked consequences of the conflict in northern Uganda is the displacement of civilians in distant Ugandan urban centers such as Kampala and Jinja. Numbering between 300,000 and 600,000, the urban displaced have been excluded from recovery initiatives targeting war-affected communities and neglected by humanitarian organizations. In northern Uganda, improved security and humanitarian aid has allowed displaced persons still there to begin returning to their lands and communities. Failure to improve assistance to and recognize the rights of urban displaced persons hampers their hopes to do the same and risks undermining larger efforts to rebuild the region and comprehensively address issues of transitional justice.

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The Justice & Reconciliation Project, in conjunction with Quaker Peace & Social Witness, have released a new report, titled "Sharing the Burden of the Past: Peer support and self help amongst former Lord's Resistance Army youth." They write about these self-formed groups of formerly abducted persons (FAPs): "Groups vary greatly in terms of activities; however they all attempt to engage principal problems facing FAPs including: poverty, community exclusion and stigmatisation, isolation, and spiritual and psychological distress. Our findings suggest that former LRA peer support groups are an important and effective vehicle for reintegration and reconciliation, all the more so given the paucity of alternative long-term reintegration provision." Access the full report here.

A report released this week by the humanitarian group AVSI brings to light the experiences of individuals in Acholiland as they move out of the camps, and return to, or towards, their homes. The report examines the complexity of this movement between camps, transition sites and original home areas as people struggle to rebuild their communities and livelihoods in the midst of an uncertain peace process. Read the full report here.

A feature in today’s PlusNews highlights the struggle of HIV-positive northern Ugandans living in Kampala who earn their livelihood collecting and breaking rocks into chips at local quarries. A recent report from Refugee Law Project estimates that between 300,000 and 600,000 war-affected northerners have migrated to urban areas such as Kampala in search of a livelihood and a safe place to live - a phenomenon widely overlooked by the Ugandan government and international humanitarian groups. Read more at PlusNews.

The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre has released an updated profile of displacement in Uganda. They write, "With the peace process plagued by delays and confusion, and with conditions in return areas often worse than in the IDP camps, the future for IDPs in northern Uganda remains uncertain...Since the signing of the Cessation of Hostilities, about half of the more than 1.8 million people who had been internally displaced by the conflict have returned to their homes or have moved to transit sites nearer to their homes. However, many IDPs are reluctant to go home in the absence of a final peace agreement...Lack of access to basic services and security guarantees form a major obstacle to the return process."

The UN’s latest northern Uganda humanitarian update reveals that the number of northern Ugandans displaced in camps and transit sites dropped from 1.15 million to 1.1 million between January and February of this year. The vast majority of those displaced, just over 1 million, are in Acholi. 65% of displaced Acholi live in original IDP camps, while 35% live in transit sites closer to their homes. Nearly 100,000 people are displaced in Teso region due to Karamojong cattle-raiding, while the 450,000 people displaced in Lango by 2005 have all returned home.