Northern Uganda remembered on International Human Rights Day

Yesterday was International Human Rights Day and presidential candidate Barack Obama chose to recognize the crisis in northern Uganda in the statement he released in honor of the day. International Human Rights day marks the U.N.'s adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, and Senator Obama's statement focused on the values enshrined in that document and the opportunity for America to restores its moral leadership within the global community.

The statement begins: "The Declaration was born of the recognition, in the words of one human rights scholar, that “what is pain and humiliation for you is pain and humiliation for me."

Senator Obama went on to highlight gender-based violence as an example of the international community's collective failure to act on this recognition, and mentioned the situation in northern Uganda as part of this horrific epidemic. "Women’s inequality and the persistent prevalence of honor killings, trafficking, repression, and sexual assault nearly six decades after the Universal Declaration shame us all...In northern Uganda, young girls are given as “prizes” to older male soldiers to reward performance."

Obama continues: "The United States alone cannot solve the problem of women's suffering and gender inequality around the world, but with new, principled leadership, the United States can elevate women's economic, political and social development to the top of our international agenda and ensure that women around the world know that they have a reliable friend and partner in America. Let me close by saying that the very depth of the anti-Americanism felt around the world today is a testament not to hatred but to disappointment, acute disappointment. The global public expects more from America. They expect our government to embody what they have seen in our people: industriousness, humanity, generosity, and a commitment to equality. We can become that country again.”

We welcome this statement from Senator Obama and hope to see all the candidates take a position on northern Uganda as part of their "moral leadership" platform. There certainly is an opportunity there, and you all can be sure that your actions and concern are pushing this issue forward!