A report released yesterday by Refugees International states that the international humanitarian response to the crisis in northern Ugandan IDP camps has been woefully inadequate. It points to failures by both the Ugandan government and the UN to protect civilians from attack and provide for basic needs. According to the report, efforts by humanitarian agencies are often uncoordinated, while access to healthcare and education is severely limited. To read the full report, click here.

The Liu Institute for Global Issues and the Gulu District NGO Forum have jointly launched the Northern Uganda Justice and Reconciliation Project, which will work to promote reconciliation through traditional cultural practices. JRP works directly with victims of conflict in some of the 100 internally-displaced people's camps in northern Uganda, while also disseminating findings to national and international stakeholders through reports, dialogues and workshops. Learn more at the JRP Web site.

The United Nations IRIN reports that at least 131 people die every day in northern Uganda as a result of violence and poor conditions in camps for people displaced by war in the region, a coalition of nongovernmental organizations said on Thursday. "There are 918 excess deaths each week," the Civil Society Organisations for Peace in Northern Uganda (CSOPNU) said. "Each month almost 25,000 people in Uganda die from easily preventable diseases."

"Nearly half of all children in Kitgum, northern Uganda are stunted from chronic malnutrition," it said. "Three times more children under five years die in northern Uganda than in the rest of the country." A quarter of a million children in the region had never received any education, while some classrooms had as many as 300 students for every teacher.

The region - once know as the breadbasket of Uganda - has also suffered the total destruction of its economy. "Nearly 70 percent of displaced people have no monetary income," the group noted. "95 percent of people in northern Ugandan districts live in absolute poverty." The annual cost of the war to Uganda - an estimated US $85 million - could provide clean drinking water for up to 3.5 million people per year.

On February 8th, the Daily Vision reported Pres. Museveni's remarks to IDPs in northern Uganda concerning fears that the government is stealing land vacated by displaced persons. He claimed that the fears were caused by lies spread by opposition parties and said, “we have been in power for the last 20 years, how many acres of land have we grabbed from you and giving them to who?".

Sadly, the reality on the ground tells a different story. Land security studies carried out in northern Uganda show that senior military officers have been allowed to farm land that IDPs have been told is 'too dangerous' to farm due to LRA rebel activity. Other government policies, ignorant of the sensitivity of land issues in northern Uganda, have fueled legitimate fears in northern Uganda that the government does not prioritize IDP land rights, and even has plans to subvert them. These include proposals to make IDP camps permanent, strict enforcement of rules preventing IDPs from visiting their land, and proposals to extend the government's power of eminent domain to include giving land to private investors.

Additionally, the government has ignored the inadquecy of existing land laws in protecting women's and children's land rights in northern Uganda. Under existing laws, women and children who own land but do not have adult males to secure their claims are vulnerable to losing their land through encroachment and physical intimidation. Also, the government has not adequately planned for the potential of post-conflict land disputes once IDPs begin returning to their homes.

Click here for Uganda-CAN's analysis of the land issues in northern Uganda, links to land security reports, and information about Ugandan land advocacy organizations.

Today’s New Vision reports that a fire in a crowded suburb of Gulu Town in northern Uganda – home to civilians displaced by the LRA rebellion and government policy – has left more than 100 people homeless. Over 41 homes burned in the blaze. Fires are commonplace northern Uganda’s crowded IDP camps, and leave thousands of already-destitute civilian IDPs homeless each year.

Reuters AlertNet reports that France's foreign minister said today that Uganda's government should boost security at camps for the 1.6 million people uprooted by war in the remote north of the country. Philippe Douste-Blazy was visiting displaced communities in northern Uganda. "I would like the Ugandan authorities to maximise security at the camps, and to make efforts for the education and reintegration of these children," he told reporters.

France will chair a U.N. Security Council working group meeting on children in war zones on Feb. 21 in New York. He said he wanted to see the "tragedy" of the child soldiers first hand before reporting to the Security Council.