Over $100million Lost Annually in Northern Uganda Insurgency
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The Monitor (Kampala)
March 1, 2006
Posted to the web March 1, 2006
Posted to the web March 1, 2006
Asuman Bisiika & Lillian Najjuma
Kampala
Kampala
Uganda loses over $100 million worth of production capacity annuall
y due to
the conflict in the northern part of the country, a local non-governmental organisation operating in northern Uganda has revealed.
The findings, contained in a summary report of Northern Uganda Peace Initiatives (NUPI), were released on February 20, during a workshop at Hotel Africana in Kampala.
The report, which covers both budget and humanitarian costs incurred by the government of Uganda and the development partners reveals that the economic and budget costs of the conflict are too high to be sustained by a developing country like Uganda.
"By 2002, the overall cost of the conflict in northern Uganda was estimated at $1.33b (about Shs2.4 trillion) and in 2003 alone, World Food Programme (WFP) spent over $41m (about Shs73b) on relief food," the report reads in part.
Mr Stig Marker Hansen, the Director of Northern Uganda Peace Initiative, said over 75 per cent
of
residents in Internally Displaced Peoples camps are not economically productive, leading to significant losses in investment opportunities and taxes.
He added that the destruction of infrastructure severely limits service delivery and has also limited production capacity in the region.
On the flip side, the destruction of infrastructure increases the cost of production and service delivery.
Northern Uganda has posted the lowest development indices with lower-than-average figures. The region has not equitably benefited from the social development that other parts of the country enjoy. This national development discrepancy has created a conspicuous south-north divide with political consequences to the national outlook.
The 20-year conflict has also resulted into massive population displacements with an estimated 1.6 million people living in 218 crowded camps.
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Relying on relief food and without the means to be productive, the people of northern Uganda have developed a dependency psyche that has led to individual and community trauma, social-cultural disruptions, child headed households and early widowhood.
The report says the conflict has significantly impacted on revenue and production capacities of the region in addition to expenditures on defence and humanitarian response, slowing down the national development index.
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It also reveals perceived marginalisation of communities in northern Uganda, inequitable distribution of local and national resources, persistent poverty.
The workshop, held under the theme 'Information and Dialogue for a National Framework For Reconciliation in Northern Uganda' brought together more than 150 participants.
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