Six-month plan to resettle IDPs in the east

The Ugandan government has started implementing a six-month emergency plan to resettle thousands of people displaced by the 20-year old conflict between the army and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in the eastern region, a senior official said. "The emergency plan spans six months and is intended to help returnees rebuild their lives and have infrastructure restored, such as roads, schools and health centres," Musa Ecweru, the Minister of State for Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, told IRIN on Wednesday. "We presented the plan to our development partners and some have responded," Ecweru added, without disclosing the cost of the plan. The plan aims to resettle IDPs in Teso and Lango regions, where relative peace has returned, by the end of 2006. However, the minister said, it does not apply to IDPs in Acholi subregion – the epicentre of the rebellion – where the government is reducing large camps by moving civilians to smaller settlements. About 90 percent of the Acholi population have been displaced and live in 200 camps, relying almost entirely on aid agencies for survival. According to data compiled by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, more than a million people are displaced in the Acholi districts of Gulu, Kitgum and Pader. "Ninety percent of the IDPs in Soroti have returned home but they have returned without anything," Ecweru said. "They have asked for help in the form of food, seeds and implements so that they can utilise the coming rains and be self-reliant by the end of the year." Ecweru said the plan also aimed to replace the army, which is deployed in the region to ensure security, with a civilian police force. The resettlement plan comes at a time when the government and the rebels are engaged in peace talks in Juba, mediated by southern Sudan, aimed at ending the rebellion. vm/mw/eo