Top US Administration officials speak out on the LRA

Just over a month ago, President Obama made history by signing the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act into law, and making a statement committing the US to take action to help end the LRA's reign of terror across central Africa.
 
In the wake of the bill's passage, many of Obama's top Africa officials have followed suit with their own public statements about the LRA.  Among these Administration officials are the US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice, US Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues Stephen Rapp, USAID official Franklin Moore, and the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson.
 
At a UN Security Council meeting on June 16, Ambassador Rice talked about the abuses of the LRA against children, saying that "the United States fully and firmly embraces our responsibility to protect children and we will not rest until the last abuse is halted and the last child soldier is released... We particularly abhor the actions of the Lord's Resistance Army, which makes a practice of forced recruitment through abduction."
 
Another US Ambassador, Stephen Rapp, spoke about LRA abuses at a conference held in Kampala earlier this month reviewing the work of the International Criminal Court.  Rapp said, "LRA forces continue to exact an intolerable toll," on countries in central Africa, and reiterated President Obama's conviction that "we must all renew our commitments and strengthen our capabilities to protect and assist civilians caught in the LRA's wake … and to support those efforts to bring the LRA leadership to justice."
 
In a testimony before the House of Representatives, a senior USAID official, Franklin Moore, expressed concern for the humanitarian consequences of mass displacement in the Great Lakes region of central Africa, and reaffirmed USAID's commitment to providing support for populations impacted by LRA violence.
 
And Secretary Carson, President Obama’s senior Africa diplomat, recently made a statement discussing the humanitarian situation in DR Congo, including the impact of LRA violence on civilians, in a speech to the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Africa.  "Addressing root causes of conflict in these areas and responding to the vast humanitarian need has remained an imperative of our efforts in the DRC, but much remains to be done," he said.

It’s clear that our efforts to get President Obama’s attention on this crisis have had a trickle-down effect on the officials in his Administration who focus on Africa policy. In their statements, these officials have highlighted the urgency of the situation, and renewed the US' commitment to the issue--evidence that our advocacy efforts are working and that our leaders are putting this on their agenda.

But we know that words alone won’t deter Joseph Kony and his top commanders from ordering more attacks on communities in central Africa, nor will they feed families who’ve been displaced from their farms and homes by rebel raids. So while we applaud President Obama and his Administration for their commendable statements, we look forward to seeing concrete action from our leaders that helps bring a permanent end to this conflict.