Ongoing attacks by Kony's LRA fighters remain a tragic reality for communities in the DR Congo and South Sudan, but this week our attention is focused on the situation within northern Uganda. For three years communities there have been free from LRA attacks, allowing thousands of displaced families to return to their homes. Though so far they've received inadequate support to help them rebuild their lives, this week provided a ray of hope. The Ugandan government relaunched its key $600 million initiative to help war-affected districts recover after widespread concerns about the plan's lack of adequate funding and coordination led to its suspension earlier this year. Meaningful recovery for war-affected communities is essential to healing the political divisions within Uganda - a point underscored this week as tensions between northern Ugandan leaders and the Ugandan government rose over allegations that a new northern rebel group is forming to oppose the rule of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.
The Good: The Ugandan government this week relaunched its plan to help communities in northern Uganda recover from the effects of two decades of war.
The Bad: As we wrote in an open letter to the US ambassador to Uganda earlier this year, the recovery plan, first launched in 2007, has yet to provide significant support to families in the north, in part because Ugandan government officials have failed to make it a political priority.
The Ugly: A Ugandan military spokesman accused a leading politician in northern Uganda of being an advisor to an alleged new northern Ugandan rebel group.
Regional Security
- LRA rebels and Ugandan soldiers reportedly clashed in northeastern DR Congo, causing several hundred Congolese civilians to flee to South Sudan.
- The UN peacekeeping force in the DR Congo announced that it is boosting its forces in LRA-affected areas and plans to send four combat helicopters and one reconnaissance helicopter to the region.
Situation in Northern Uganda
- The Ugandan government relaunched its Peace, Recovery and Development Plan (PRDP) for northern Uganda this week, sparking hope that efforts to help war-affected communities rebuild will gain momentum. The plan, first launched in 2007, was suspended by Government officials earlier this year in an effort to improve weak coordination and funding mechanisms.
- Ugandan military officials accused Gulu district's top elected official, Norbert Mao, of being an "accomplice" to an alleged new northern Ugandan anti-government group, the Uganda Patriotic Front. Mao, who has announced plans to run for president in 2011, said that he was aware of the alleged group but strongly denied being among its members or supporters.
- Tensions in Uganda are rising due to claims that new anti-government rebel groups are forming in northern Uganda. In addition to the charges against Mao, eleven northerners were arrested last month on charges of forming a rebel group. Several northern politicians have voiced suspicions that the Ugandan government is using claims of rebel activity to undermine members of opposition political parties in advance of the 2011 presidential elections.
International Response
- 23 Senators signed a letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urging her to make ending LRA violence a priority. A similar letter is currently being circulated by Representatives Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Ed Royce (R-CA) in the House of Representatives, and will be sent to Secretary Clinton next week.
- Steven Browning, the outgoing US ambassador to Uganda, said he was disappointed that progress on rebuilding northern Uganda has been slow, and urged the Ugandan government to devote increased attention to jumpstarting reconstruction efforts.
- President Obama announced his nomination for Amb. Browning's replacement, Jerry Lanier. Lanier is a career diplomat who has been in the State Department for 26 years, mostly recently as an advisor to the US military's Africa Command.
- Uganda began its one-month stint as the chair of the UN Security Council this week. Ruhakana Rugunda, Uganda's UN ambassador, said that supporting efforts to end rebel activity in eastern DR Congo will be among his key goals this month.