UN highlights 'forgotten humanitarian crisis'

THE UN humanitarian chief travelled to northern Uganda over the weekend to highlight what he called a forgotten humanitarian crisis, with about two million people made homeless and tens of thousands of children abducted in the region's 20-year insurgency.

Jan Egeland visited Patongo camp in Pader, one of the districts worst hit by the insurgency.

"It is the biggest story not told yet - 20,000-25,000 kidnapped children. There is nowhere else with a drama like this one," Mr Egeland said as he visited the camp, about 380km north of the capital, Kampala.

An umbrella group for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in northern Uganda said in a report released on Thursday that the number of people killed weekly in northern Uganda was three times higher per capita than similar estimates for Iraq, and the insurgency has cost $1.7 billion (€1.4bn).

Mr Egeland arrived in Uganda on Thursday and met with President Yoweri Museveni, other government officials, representatives of NGOs and Uganda-based UN officials.

His meetings have focussed on the humanitarian crisis in northern Uganda, this time looking at how relief institutions and organisations could better co-ordinate their efforts.

Mr Egeland said he and Mr Museveni had disagreed on whether the government had the security situation in northern Uganda under control, but agreed on what action needed to be taken to improve things.

"I'm very happy to hear President Museveni promising action in many areas, tighter security, more social investment, more efforts to secure areas so people can return voluntarily and in safety and with dignity," Mr Egeland said.

Government spokesman Robert Kabushenga said earlier this week that the government planned to establish a joint country co-ordination and monitoring mechanism for northern Uganda, with the government coordinating aid work by humanitarian organisations.

The 20-year insurgency, led by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), has caused almost two million people to be made homeless, forcing them to live in government-controlled camps.

The LRA holds no territory, but regularly abducts children, using boys as soldiers and girls as sex slaves.

Rebels have abducted about 25,000 children during the conflict, the Civil Society Organisations for Peace in Northern Uganda said in its report. Mr Kabushenga said the government has rescued 17,000 of them.