How We Got Here

After visiting northern Uganda just over three years ago, we founded the Uganda Conflict Action Network. Our experience there convinced us that urgent international leadership was needed to end the crisis, and we were compelled to respond. Knowing that the power to create political change lies in public action and pressure, we started mobilizing other concerned citizens to bring this crisis to the attention of policymakers.
And we’ve made progress.

Here’s what we’ve been doing:
  • Lobbying policymakers: We have organized Congressional briefings, conducted legislative advocacy, and met with U.S. Senators and Congressmen to initiate letters to Administration officials regarding policy toward the crisis.
  • Taking political action: Working with key activists across the country, we have organized legislative call-ins, petition drives, and a national lobby day where more than 700 people visited their elected representatives to advocate on behalf of the people of northern Uganda.
  • Building a movement: In collaboration with other grassroots organizations, we have mobilized over 100,000 people to participate in public demonstrations.
  • Generating media coverage: Our efforts to raise the profile of this crisis have resulted in media coverage in such outlets as The Washington Post, U.S. News and World Report, The International Herald Tribune, NPR, and the BBC.
Here’s some of what our efforts have achieved:
  • Working with policymakers in the U.S. Congress, we have initiated two Senate resolutions and one House resolution calling for increased support for a peaceful settlement of the conflict.
  • As a result of the momentum generated by the Northern Uganda Lobby Day and a consequent letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed by 22 U.S. Senators, the State Department released its first statement about the current peace talks, more than four months after they began.
  • After cuts to humanitarian assistance were announced in 2006, we lobbied Congress and USAID and received a $35 million dollar boost to aid programs in the region, as well as the inaugural appointment of a U.S. humanitarian coordinator for northern Uganda.
  • Our advocacy at the United Nations has helped catalyze the first Security Council resolution addressing the crisis as well as two subsequent Security Council Presidential Statements about current peace negotiations.

But we’re not there yet. With greater resources, momentum, and pressure, we can generate the engagement necessary to achieve the lasting change we seek. That’s why we created Resolve Uganda. Building on past successes and utilizing an informed strategy to get us where we need to be, we’re taking aim.

Our target is peace.