Government, UN launch appeal for northern IDPs

The government and the United Nations have appealed for an additional US $80 million to fund the provision of humanitarian aid to 2.3 million people, including 1.6 million displaced by the conflict between the army and the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in northern and eastern Uganda. Urging the government to ensure security for the displaced, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Uganda Daouda Toure said at the launch held in the capital, Kampala, on Monday that the UN was hoping for a peaceful settlement of the conflict. This, he added, could result in economic growth and boost Uganda's poverty alleviation efforts. Minister of State for Disaster Preparedness Christine Aporu, who represented the government, announced a contribution of Ush 200 million (US $111,000) to the UN World Food Programme (WFP). She said that since January 2003, the government had released Ush 16.4 billion to meet the needs of the displaced, including food, resettlement, security, road repairs and the provision of water and health services. Ken Davis, the WFP country director, said: "Uganda faces the worst humanitarian crisis in years. The two-track approach pursued by the government of Uganda - military measures combined with diplomacy - in dealing with the LRA insurgency, has not yet resolved the conflict. Instead, it has resulted in continued displacement, widening food gaps and life-threatening vulnerability." Davis described the conflict in northern Uganda as a "child-centred crisis that has resulted in gross violation of the rights of the child, devastation of livelihoods and the loss of a generation". He added: "Traditional coping mechanisms are exhausted, and redundancy in camps is resulting in extreme poverty, excessive drinking [of alcohol], increased promiscuity and spread of HIV/AIDS." The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said a funding shortfall threatened to block the necessary replenishment of essential drugs and supplies to the 188 camps for the internally displaced in the region. It could also disrupt services and increase the risk of death from easily treatable diseases. Martin Mogwanja, the UNICEF representative said: "Over the past two years, and markedly more in the past 12 months, the impact of the conflict on the lives of children and women in northern Uganda has worsened. We have seen a steady deterioration of an already strained humanitarian situation, accompanied by blatant violations of human rights – including the rights of children to health services, water, primary education and protection." The country director of the International Rescue Committee, Kurt Tjossen, asked the government to distinguish between those captured by the insurgents and rebel fighters the army claimed it had killed in encounters with the LRA. "The army continues to declare that they have killed high numbers of rebels and rescued many captives. However, the line between what a rebel is and what a captive is remains blurred, especially since abducted children remain the bulk of the rebel army," he said.