Next week, Philadelphia Inquirer writer and long-time northern Uganda advocate, Carolyn Davis, will return to northern Uganda. She'll be joined by 16-year-old Jennifer Anyayo, who has been in the U.S. for about 17 months getting medical treatment for horrid burns she suffered in a LRA attack when she was about nine years old. Along the way, Carolyn will be blogging about the experience. Also, the Philly Inquirer will be posting photos and reports on Jennifer's Journey. Follow along next week as this important journey begins.

Last week, ABC News' blog 'The Blotter' included an article about "new African horrors" in northern Uganda. The article describes how documentary filmmakers were subjected to intimidation and coercion and were the victims of break-ins while attempting to film about displacement in northern Uganda. Yet, "despite the efforts at intimidation, the filmmakers obtained dramatic footage of what they say is fresh evidence of atrocities and inhumane living conditions in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps, where millions of displaced Ugandan minorities live in squalor and disease. The filmmakers says it's a humanitarian crisis that has been covered up by the Ugandan government and largely ignored by the Western media." Read the article at The Blotter.

Today, the new UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, John Holmes, briefed the UN Security Council about his recent trip to northern Uganda. He said the situation in the conflict-affected districts was improving, as security had increased with the major decline in LRA attacks. He said that child "night commuting" to avoid abduction by LRA, once affecting 20,000 children, has largely ceased. Nevertheless, he said there remains a long distance still to go with 1.6 million people still displaced. Only 1 percent, or just over 7,000 people, had so far returned permanently to their places of origin.

Holmes said the situation presents a triple challenge. First, there is need to continue providing vital humanitarian assistance to those still in camps. Those who had either moved to new settlement sites or were commuting to their places of origin continue to need basic food and household items, but also require access to water and sanitation, health services and education. Also, those who have returned home require a basic support package for the early stages and, more importantly, a large amount of development and reconstruction help to restart their normal agricultural livelihoods, with re-established infrastructure and social provision. Read more at Relief Web.

The UN confirmed yesterday that it has hired an international auditing firm, KPMG, to audit and keep track of the $5.8 million dollars comprising the UN Juba Initiative Fund. The UN created the fund last year to bolster the mediation team and help facilitate negotiations at the Juba peace talks. The move may be partially in response to LRA accusations that some of the funds have been mismanaged. Read more at The Monitor.

The UN Security Council agreed yesterday to extend the mandate of the UN's peacekeeping force in the DR Congo (MONUC) until the end of the year. The peacekeeping force, consisting of more than 18,000 personnel, played a key role in the DR Congo's landmark democratic elections last year. In the resolution extending MONUC's mandate, the Security Council recognized the importance of addressing the proliferation of armed groups that destabilize the country, especially in the east, and tasked MONUC with assisting the DR Congo in disarming them.

In regards to the LRA, one of foreign armed groups within the DR Congo, the resolution stated, "The presence of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in the north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo remains a destabilizing element in the region that must be addressed with determination. The United Nations continues to support Uganda’s efforts to address this problem. " The LRA has been active in the DR Congo since 2005 and killed 8 MONUC peacekeepers in January 2006. Read more at UN News.

UN humanitarian chief John Holmes met today with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to discuss the Juba peace talks, the humanitarian crisis in northern Uganda and the violence and insecurity in Uganda's Karamoja region. Tomorrow Holmes plans to visit IDP camps in Kitgum district, where at least 260,000 people remain displaced. Holmes' predecessor, Jan Egeland, played a key role in focusing the world's attention on the conflict and pushing for an end to the humanitarian crisis in the north. Read more at ReliefWeb.