Rebuilding relationships to end war in East and Central Africa
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to see the areas where we work.More than two decades of civil war between the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Ugandan government has caused great suffering for people living in northern Uganda as well as for civilians in Southern Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Central African Republic (CAR).
*Latest publications*
'When will this end and what will it take?'
– People's perspectives on addressing the LRA conflict (November 2011) 28 pages, 1mb PDF
People's Peacemaking Perspectives policy brief – The Lord's Resistance Army
(October 2011) 6 pages, 2mb PDF
Background to conflict
The LRA was formed in northern Uganda in 1987 with the intention of overthrowing President Museveni’s government in the capital, Kampala. The LRA’s leader, Joseph Kony, claimed that the north had become marginalized and exploited by Museveni’s government.
The LRA lacked popular support, however, and its usual tactic was to target civilians. Since 1987 the LRA is estimated to have killed more than10,000 people in Uganda, Southern Sudan, the DRC and the CAR. It is also estimated to have abducted 60,000 children to use as combatants. In many cases these children are forced to fight against their own people.
The LRA spread over Uganda’s borders into eastern and central regions of Southern Sudan in the early 1990s. And in 2004/5 the LRA further spread into the DRC, the CAR as well as western regions of Southern Sudan, resulting in acute suffering for affected communities in these countries.
From 1996 onwards, over 1.7 million Ugandans were forced to move into makeshift camps, far from their homes. Some 700,000 of them were displaced in other countries: Southern Sudan, the DRC and the CAR. Most are seriously traumatized. An amnesty law, passed in Uganda in 2000 following pressure from civil society organizations and the international community, gave LRA abductees the chance to return to their communities without prosecution for their crimes. Thousands came home, encouraged by those who long for peace. The factors influencing LRA combatants as to whether to return home or continue fighting are covered in our publication Choosing to Return.
The Juba Peace Process
Peace talks from 2006 until 2008 offered the best hope for a settlement in recent times. In northern Uganda most of the 1.7 million displaced persons left the camps and began slowly rebuilding their homes and livelihoods.
Resumption of conflict and renewed dispersal of LRA through central Africa
But in December 2008 the Ugandan army staged a renewed military offensive after LRA leader, Joseph Kony, refused to sign a final peace deal. The offensive, Operation Lightning Thunder, mirrored past offensives and resulted in a renewed dispersal of the LRA over the border into the DRC, the CAR and Southern Sudan. The consequences of this dispersal were devastating for the civilian populations of these countries which have suffered large numbers of casualties and widespread displacement. According to the UN, approximately 700,000 people had become internally displaced in Southern Sudan, the DRC and CAR by July 2010 as a result of LRA activities since 2008.
In November 2010 the USA administration announced a new strategy for resolving the conflict. The strategy, however, is likely to prove ineffective as it is Uganda-centric and does not adequately respond to a conflict which has now moved beyond Uganda into neighbouring countries. The strategy also offers a similar securitised and military response to those that have failed to resolve the conflict in the past. CR critiqued the strategy in a BBC interview broadcast the day after the strategy was announced.
Conciliation Resources works with local partners and communities across the region to try to end this war peacefully. By strengthening their efforts we can help them deal with the issues that fuel and prolong the conflict. We believe a military response cannot address the social, political and economic issues that are its root causes. A genuine process of reconciliation is needed, with accountability for all.
February 2010: New Accord update on northern Uganda and the Juba peace process. The Accord Update was presented to European Commission officials and members of the European Peacebuilding Liason Office in Brussels in 2010
October 2009: Regional Peacebuilding Committee's Juba meeting communique [pdf 82kb]
March 2009: recommendations agreed by Ugandan, Sudanese and Congolese civil society leaders who attended our regional peacebuilding conference
