Press Release
High-level meeting must lead to immediate improvements for two
million displaced people in northern Uganda
GENEVA, 20 March 2006 As high-level talks on the crisis in northern Uganda begin in Geneva today,
ten leading non-governmental agencies call on the international community to urge the Ugandan
government to resolve the conflict peacefully and ensure that the 2 million people internally displaced in
the north of the country are properly protected and assisted without further delay.
The meeting has been convened by the United Nations to agree on main elements of an action plan to
address the crisis in northern Uganda with the Ugandan gover
nment
and a core group of donor countries
including the United States, the United Kingdom, Norway, the Netherlands and Canada. The talks
follow a Security Council resolution, passed in January, which recognised the regional threat the conflict
was causing and called on the Ugandan government to protect its population and to ensure safe and
unhindered access for humanitarian workers.
It has become clear during the past 20 years of the conflict that the Ugandan government has either been
unwilling or unable to protect the civilian population in the north. Moreover, the governments focus on
trying to get a military solution has undermined peace mediation efforts. It has perpetuated a conflict
that has led to countless killings of innocent civilians, the abduction of over 24,000 children by the rebel
Lord Resistance Army and the displacement of 90 per cent of the norths population into squalid and
unprotected camps. Over 900 civilians die each week as a direct result of the conflict. Both the Ugandan
military and the Lords Resistance Army continue to commit grave human rights abuses with impunity.
The non-governmental agencies signed on to this statement appeal to the UN and donor countries to:
�� call on the Ugandan government to fully commit to a peaceful resolution of the conflict and
return to the negotiating table;
�� appoint a high-level envoy to coordinate efforts to address all aspects of the crisis and to report
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back to the UN Security Council;
�� establish benchmarks (see below) to enable the Ugandan government to show clear progress in
restoring peace, protecting the civilian population, and addressing the humanitarian crisis.
The people of northern Uganda deserve the promise of peace to be fulfilled. The non-governmental
agencies therefore call on the UN and donor countries to take further action through the UN Security
Council in a timely and decisive manner should the situation in the north not improve within a
reasonable period of time.
Notes to editors:
The benchmarks to enable t
he
Ugandan government to show clear progress in restoring peace,
protecting the civilian population, and addressing the humanitarian crisis should include evidence of:
�� engagement of the Ugandan government in high-level peace mediation and support for
community-based peace building programmes;
�� constructive public statements from top Ugandan government officials reflecting the reality of
the humanitarian situation and progress being made in the north
�� a significant increase in resources dedicated by the government to the humanitarian crisis in t
he
north;
�� the release and use of emergency funds for programmes targeting the humanitarian needs of the
displaced;
�� concrete improvements of conditions for the displaced population, including a decrease in
mortality rates, better humanitarian access to remote camps, increased freedom of movement,
and a decrease in the number of abuses perpetrated by the rebels or the Ugandan military;
�� the establishment of a community-based demobilisation and reintegration programme for exrebels
and formerly abducted
children.
The following organisations have signed on to this statement:
Act for Stolen Children in Northern Uganda, Africa Faith & Justice Network, The Liu Institute,
Norwegian Refugee Council /Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, Oxfam International, Refugees
International, International Save the Children Alliance, Tearfund, World Vision International
Contact information:
Geneva:
Jens-Hagen Eschenbächer
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Tel: +41(0)227990703
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