Weekly Roundup Jan. 16-22: Legislation hits historic milestone
Before moving on to this week's news, take two minutes right now and vote for our partners at Invisible Children to win $1 million in a facebook competition hosted by Chase Bank. Though they now hold the lead, the second place team is gaining votes fast enough to potentially eclipse Invisible Children before tonight's midnight deadline.
And now, on to the news: This week, after impassioned lobbying by activists across the country, the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act became the most widely cosponsored Africa-focused legislation in at least 35 years (and potentially ever; electronic archives only go back that far!). As the bill moves closer to passage, continuing to build on this momentum provides the best hope of galvanizing the U.S. action needed for peace.
The Good: Boosted by continued lobbying efforts, the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act now has now garnered more than half of the Senate as cosponsors, making it the most widely supported Sub-Saharan Africa-focused legislation in modern American history.
The Bad: Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma continues to block Senate passage of the LRA bill, despite the unprecedented levels of support from fellow Senators and Representatives.
The Ugly: There are new reports that four civilians were killed and others abducted in an LRA attack last week in the Orientale Province of eastern DR Congo.
Regional Security
- In celebrations marking the five-year anniversary of Sudan's Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the president of South Sudan announced that he will scale up army forces in areas vulnerable to LRA attacks to improve protection of civilians.
- Lacking protection from LRA atrocities, a short Al-Jazeera video released this week documents the ways that local communities in South Sudan are forming self-defense militias to repel rebel attacks.
- The UN this week reported the story of Annuarite Tagenge, a 17-year old girl from DR Congo who has spent almost a year fleeing the LRA and searching for her siblings. Her story echoes the experiences of hundreds of thousands of others displaced by LRA attacks in the past year.
Situation in Northern Uganda
- Uganda's defense minister apologized for past LRA attacks in Uganda's Teso district, admitting that the army's failure to provide adequate security led to an increase in killings and abductions in the region.
International Community
- Senators Feingold, Brownback, Boxer, and Inhofe released a statement Wednesday commemorating the achievement of 51 cosponsors for the LRA bill. "The level of support for this legislation demonstrates unprecedented bipartisan consensus that the United States should work to bring a lasting end to Africa's longest running rebel war," said Sen. Feingold.
Such strong support from Congress is due to the lobbying of thousands of activists, and creates legitimate hope that President Obama will make ending LRA violence a higher priority for his Administration.