Ugandan government officials announced yesterday the launch of an emergency resettlement scheme for IDPs in northern Uganda. The plan is designed to bolster police forces and local administrations, open emergency access roads, purchase resettlement kits, rejuvenate judicial services, and provide for the monitoring and mobilizing of IDPs returning to their homes. Read more at The New Vision.

A spokesman for the Ugandan military said yesterday that the UPDF will stop providing military escorts to humanitarian groups traveling to IDP camps in northern Uganda. Lt. Chris Magezi said that the cessation of hostilities truce between the Ugandan government and the LRA, which came into effect today, has made military escorts unnecessary. Read more at The New Vision.

A recent study of HIV prevalence rates in Lira district revealed an infection rate of up to 30% in some IDP camps. Uganda's national HIV prevalence rate is over six percent, but civilians in northern Uganda have little access to HIV/AIDS prevention, care and support services, and an estimated nine percent of the region's population has HIV. High rates of prostitution and sexual and domestic violence against women are also commonplace in the IDP camps. Read more at AllAfrica.com.

Oroma Gladys, Uganda-CAN correspondent, reports that internally-displaced peoples (IDPs) in Acholiland are increasingly eager to go back to their villages as calm returns to much of the region. The Gulu District Chairman Norbert Mao has reported that some IDPs are already returning to their villages for cultivation. However, Mao called on the government to do much more to guarantee IDP security and improve IDP life conditions. Further, Mao reported that the World Food Programme has reduced its food rations in the camps.

Despite the apparent cessation of hostilities, rape of women and girls remains prevalent in northern Uganda, said retired Kitgum Diocese Bishop Macleord Baker Ochola II. Ochola appealed to the relevant authorities to intervene in what he said was dehumanizing to their culture and community. He alleged that some government soldiers were among the culprits, adding, "their actions cannot easily be brought to book because of the absence of a justice, law and order system." Read more at The New Vision.