The UN World Food Programme (WFP) announced today that a shortage of contributions has forced it to cut food rations for the 1.28 million people still in displacement camps as a result of the 21-year war in northern Uganda. "WFP strongly appreciates the swift response to our March appeal from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), the United States, Canada and Norway, but unless there are additional contributions from other donors, the problem for 1.28 million displaced and 182,000 refugees will persist," said WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran. Read more at the UN News Service.

"The humanitarian situation in northern Uganda and parts of southern Sudan has improved significantly in the past year," Margareta Wahlström, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, said today. "However, the conclusion of a final peace accord between the parties remains necessary to sustain and promote further progress on the humanitarian front," stressed Ms. Wahlström. Sustained security improvements over the past year, attributable to the peace process, have given some 1.4 million displaced Ugandans - many of whom have spent two decades in overcrowded camps - renewed hope that peace will finally come. In the past year, more than 300,000 of the displaced have left the camps to return to their areas of origin. Despite this progress, however, northern Uganda requires continued emergency relief and protection, as well as assistance in returns and early recovery. Read more at ReliefWeb.

Attacks on civilian populations in southern Sudan by the LRA pose a significant threat to food security and overall stability in Equatoria states, according to a new report. The report says that the attacks, which intensified after talks between the Ugandan government and LRA stalled in January, have left 3,500 people displaced in Torit County. The report was published by USAID and the Famine Early Warning System Network. However, the report also speculated that LRA-related insecurity could be reduced if peace talks resume this month, as scheduled. Read more at Reuters AlertNet.

Five months after the Ugandan government embarked on a voluntary resettlement and rehabilitation programme for internally displaced people (IDPs) in the war-torn north, life is gradually returning to normal in some of the region’s villages. According to The East African, the changes are evident in various aspects of life. The people, now evidently more relaxed, stroll leisurely along the newly paved village paths. Farming is doing well, with maize stems heavily weighed down by fully grown cobs on plantations by the road. In the evenings, the men sit together in groups, sipping malwa (a local alcoholic brew) from clay pots. They talk and laugh loudly, in stark contrast to the way they used to be during the war, when they conversations were held in hushed tones.

Two months after resettlement began, UN OCHA reported in December 2006 that some 300,000 IDPs had returned to their villages. And by the end of last month, the number had risen to 490,000, according the UNHCR country office in Kampala. Still, despite these achievements, the resettlement programme has been criticised by several people as premature. Critics say it was launched before either a comprehensive peace agreement between the government and the LRA had been signed, or the rebels defeated. In addition, many returnees lack even the basic necessities promised by the Ugandan government. Read more at The East African.

About 200 different types of landmines and unexploded ordinances have been demined and destroyed in Gulu and Amuru districts in the last two months. National Mine Action Programme team leader Emmy Katukore announced that the mines were demined between February 9 and April 2. According to the UPDF, several landmines and unexploded ordinances were planted by LRA rebels in northern Uganda. The lingering presence of landmines could prove deadly when the displaced begin returning home. Read more at The Monitor.