Less than two weeks until Uganda's children thrown back into danger of war

Submitted by crinadmin on

[15 February 2007] - With less than two weeks to go before the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement runs out in Uganda, the safety and security of Uganda's children lies in the balance. As the deadline of February 28 approaches, both the Government of Uganda and the LRA are refusing to fully commit to further peace talks. Both sides must dedicate the political will and energy desperately needed to find a peaceful resolution.

If conflict resumes, children will once again be the main casualties, vulnerable to being shot, killed, abducted and maimed. Up to 80 per cent of the ranks of the Lord's Resistance Army are children, with 1,500 currently held by the fighting group and another 10,000 ex-recruits still unaccounted for.

Save the Children is calling on the international community to make clear to the Government of Uganda and the LRA that they will receive no international political support or allies should one or both sides return to war. Previous calls to resume peace talks by the international community have been too passive and too easily ignored.

If time runs out on the peace deal on 28 February, more than a million children in the north of the country will once again live in fear of the terror and violence of conflict. Since the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement was signed in August last year, progress has been made with help from NGOs such as Save the Children to get children into school and displaced families back to their homes. All this could crumble if conflict resumes.

John Reinstein, Operations Director, Save the Children in Uganda, says:
"Time is running out for children in Uganda. This is a desperate situation and the international community must act now to ensure over a million children and their families are not thrown back into the insecurity of war. A return to conflict is in nobody's interest, and will have catastrophic affects on children's emotional and physical wellbeing. International governments must insist in no uncertain terms that both sides get together and take up the peace talks. These children can't wait."

Save the Children is calling on:

  • Both parties to resume peace talks and commit to a peaceful solution to the conflict.
    The Government of Uganda and the LRA to agree an extension to the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement.
  • The international community to make clear no international political support will be given to the Ugandan government or the LRA if one or both sides return to war.
  • Both sides to immediately cease all military activity, as stipulated in the Cessation of the Hostilities Agreement, in order not to undermine the peace talks and build confidence between the parties and with the communities affected.
  • The LRA to assemble and immediately release all women and children.

Further information

Country: 
Uganda

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