Consequences of Conflict

One simple fact is crucial to understanding the consequences of two decades of conflict in northern Uganda: the people most vulnerable to the impacts of the war are those least responsible for perpetuating it. For two decades military and government elites in the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Ugandan government have waged war, while until recently governments in neighboring countries and the international community preferred to ignore (or directly subsidize) the conflict. They have been unable – or unwilling – to halt a war in which millions of civilians, primarily women and children, have been caught in a crossfire of violent conflict, displacement and human rights abuses. The legacy of the conflict’s impact on civilians speaks to the urgency of achieving peace and creating space for northern Ugandans to reclaim their lives, communities and futures. 

The conflict in northern Uganda has had its most terrifying impact on children. Hundreds of thousands have been displaced into squalid camps where the Ugandan government and international community have neglected for decades to ensure their safety, health or education. As many as 66,000 children have been abducted by the LRA, wrenched from their families and forced to become soldiers and sex slaves. Until recently, tens of thousands of child “night commuters” walked miles each day and night in search of a place to sleep safe from the rebels. Hope for the future of these children lies in ongoing peace talks and a return to their communities. However, rebuilding broken educational and healthcare systems that can address the needs of former child soldiers, orphans and other vulnerable children remains a challenge. Click here to read more about the consequences of conflict on children in northern Uganda.

The legacy of over a decade of a displacement in northern Uganda is equally convincing evidence that 21 years of war must end. LRA raids and government counterinsurgency strategy have forced 1.7 million people from their rural homes into dense camps that lack adequate services and have strained social bonds to the breaking point. Trapped within the camps, northern Ugandans have endured both brutal raids by LRA rebels and human rights abuses and gross neglect at the hands of the Ugandan military and government. Ongoing peace talks have allowed hundreds of thousands to begin returning to their homes, but peace must be accompanied by dedicated and transparent efforts to jumpstart development and rebuild civilian police forces, judicial systems and local governments. Click here to read more about the displacement disaster in northern Uganda.

Violent conflict and displacement has had distinct and especially severe impacts on the lives of women and girls in northern Uganda. A weak and unresponsive judicial system has provided little justice for the women that have suffered violence and exploitation, often at the hands of government soldiers. Tens of thousands of girls have been abducted by the LRA and forced to become soldiers, sex slaves and domestic servants. Even so, they have courageously sustained fragile families and livelihoods in displacement camps, often organizing into community womens’ groups. Gender-sensitive development and encouragement of womens’ political and social leadership must be cornerstones of northern Uganda’s recovery agenda. Click here to read more about gender and conflict in northern Uganda.

The conflict between the LRA and Ugandan government, far from being isolated in northern Uganda, is embedded within a larger regional crisis. To the north, a fragile peace deal in southern Sudan threatens to unravel, which could disrupt the Juba peace talks and motivate the Sudanese government to renew its support of the LRA. The LRA military leadership currently lives in the DR Congo, contributing to insecurity in its volatile eastern region and rekindling tensions between the Congolese and Ugandan governments. Within Uganda, Karamojong cattle raiders from the east have caused displacement in northern Uganda, while Karamoja itself suffers from insecurity and a severe crackdown by the Ugandan military. International engagement has tended to ignore that these conflicts are interrelated, hampering efforts to achieve comprehensive and lasting regional stability. Click here to read more about how the conflict in northern Uganda relates to the larger crisis in the region.