The war in Uganda has been called the most neglected humanitarian emergency in the world. For the past 25 years, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Government of Uganda have been waging civil war causing nearly two million civilians to be displaced. Joseph Kony, the leader of the LRA, has turned to abducting children from villages and using them as his child soldiers. It is estimated that 90% of his ranks were abducted as children.
Like any rebel militia, the LRA is hard to track and protect against. In 1996 the Government of Uganda forcibly evicted thousands of citizens from their villages to government camps. While the camps provide some security, the refugees live in squalor and destitute without work or food. In an effort to further protect their children, parents send them into the cities to sleep at night. Night commuting sends thousands of children flocking to nearby cities to sleep in overcrowded shelters. Some children sleep on the streets, without blankets or protection. This generation in Northern Ugandan youth cause concern for many, such a Carlos Rodriguez a Spanish priest who slept on the streets with the children, hoping to raise international awareness of this plight, “These children who sleep on the verandahs, what kind of people are they going to be tomorrow?" [2]
Wednesday night AU hosted Invisible Children, a grass roots organization that uses film, creativity and social action to end the use of child soldiers in Joseph Kony’s rebel war and restore LRA-affected communities in Central Africa to peace and prosperity. [1] The Invisible Children team started with three young filmmakers going to Africa to find a story in 2003 and now is a vast network of supporters, staff and supporters fighting for the rights and freedoms of the Ugandan people. Invisible Children goes beyond raising awareness and focuses on long-term development while working with the Ugandan people to heal the wounds of war and provide an education to the children. Supporters of the Invisible Children team have been advocating for the Ugandan peace all across the nation with campaigns such as “Displace Me” where supports were urged to sleep in local parks like the night commuters. The American people raised enough concern, the US State Department appointed Tim Shortley to Senior Advisor for Conflict Resolution in July 2007. His main focus was for peace in Northern Uganda. From June 2006 to March 2008 in Juba, Sudan, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Government of Uganda (GoU) engaged in a series of peace talks in order to end the conflict. These peace talks, supported by special envoys from the United States and other nations, allowed for the longest period of peace in northern Uganda’s 23-year war.
Night commuting has largely ceased and displacement camps dismantled and villagers returned to their homes. Some have been displaced for more than a decade, and their former way of life is all but gone. Access to clean water, economic opportunities, health centers, and education are a pressing concern for all, and even more so for the many who contemplate returning to resource-barren villages. Schools have been destroyed and there is need for health centers for the ex-child solders. The Invisible Children organization is committed to continuing this legacy of change and hope for a brighter future in Uganda and the world.
Works Cited
1. Mission Statement for Invisible Children
2. http://www.irinnews.org/InDepthMain.aspx?InDepthId=23&ReportId=6577
3. http://www.invisiblechildren.com/history-of-the-war
It is really very important issue. This problem wasdescribed in UN's "10 Stories the worls should here more about". I was interestes in this problem before and I used the website called Chilren of Uganda http://www.uccf.org/ and Save the Children http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6150481/
ReplyDeleteBut the problem is LRA is not the only threat for children in Uganda, but also poverty, hunger, diseases, especiialy HIV and AIDS and social development as well.
What I like most about Invisible Children is that it showcases liberalism at its prime. Realistically, it would be useless for a country like the Unites States to pour effort into an issue that barely affects it as a country, however, I find it noble that actions are being taken to prevent the use of child soldiers in Uganda. I think it also plays a bit on constructivism, and how the US identifies itself as a liberalist country, who will help other countries attain peace and freedom for its citizens.
ReplyDeleteEven though violent movements like these are very prevalent in numerous areas in the world today, I feel as though in more developed countries like the United States tend to turn a blind eye toward these matters (in the public realm) once they have been so-called showcased in the news. Groups like Invisible Children raise awareness of these issues and keep information flowing in order to halt atrocities like this on a daily basis. Without awareness groups, much knowledge of certain issues would be lost. For example, people might think that the child soldiers in Uganda was an issue of the past rather than an ongoing problem that is in an active state right now. The government might send aid to areas/the people involved with such issues similar to this, but activist groups are a key part to promote current action against the atrocities, those of which are easily forgotten by the public.
ReplyDeleteVictoria, this is a very important issue indeed. Invisible Children works with these after affects of the LRA. They are working to rebuild communities in Uganda with 90% of their Ugandan field team being Ugandan citizens. At the schools, each student is given a mentor to over see not just their studies but also their health and well being. IC also has economic initiatives in jobless areas like the displacement camps with a goal to connect local markets to global ones. The Bracelet campaign started in the displacement campaigns employing the jobless to make bracelets that would be included in IC DVDs that raise awareness to the LRA and the Ugandan crisis. The profits are then given back to Ugandan school in the form of scholarships for students. These infrastructures have been put into place so that long after IC is gone, there can be sustainable businesses and growth.
ReplyDeleteJulia, I could not agree more. In economics, this would be called rational ignorance because what do the American people really gain from knowledge of the Ugandan people and the opportunity cost of helping them. However, this does not account for the "human factor" of kindness and need for social justice which Liberalism and Constructivism do take into account. The identity of the American people is then bolstered by action through the means of Liberalist actions.
Courtney, absolutely. I believe this ties into what we were talking about this week about the roles and wants of government versus the people or populous. For governments, why follow through? The effects of the Ugandan civil war are not being felt in the US. But the people disagree (or at least those involved with IC). At the basis human level at which the people function at, this is blasphemy. As US citizens we are entitled to these basis rights of freedom and liberty, basic human rights. Activist groups capture the essence of human rights and use it as a movement and machine for change while governments have many many other issues to deal with. I feel as though for governments, these activist groups are a reality check for what really matters and a moral compass and means to support these goals without over extending the government role.
Haley,
ReplyDeleteI am not sure if you meant to do this or not, but your blog post relates quite well to Thursday’s class. Invisible Children can be viewed as part of the Transnational and Global Civil Society. Invisible Children in a non-governmental organization (NGO), and this organization allows people to say what they believe to be right or wrong.
Imagining a world without such organizations is terrifying. Transnational global society, especially with issues involving such as the LRA in Uganda, is the only entity that speaks on behalf of people that want to make a difference when a difference must be made.
I actually did not mean for this to be related to the lecture! I wrote it right after the screening of IC's newest movie as an extra credit assignment.
ReplyDeleteAfter seeing the IC film, I can not imagine what Uganda would be like if there was no global civil society. Or any third world atrocity that has benefitted from NGOs and etc. Your comment has raised my curiosity on the effects of the Transnational Global Society on Africa and the rest of the third world. Where would these states stand without these organizations? Could they on the road to freedom and development without the jumpstart the NGO's hope to provide?
My first blog post this year was actually on stateless children that end up working in the "black market" because they have no protection. After reading your post I felt this was another example of the horrors faced in leaving displaced children to fend for themselves. My only question is What exactly is the role of the organization in protecting the children? Has Invisible Children only been holding peace talks, or is there a more active role that they have taken to ensure the safety of children?
ReplyDeleteIC has done a variety of campaigns, talks and action. They focus mainly on rebuilding communities and infrastructure that the LRA have destroyed and provide scholarships and mentors to students, many ex-child soldiers, giving them an opportunity to grow and prosper.
ReplyDeleteThey started out as three filmmaker traveling to Uganda in search of a story and found thousands of families displaced into refugee camps and children commuting at night into the big cities to hide from the LRA. They took their film around the US and raised enough pressure to send a US representative to the Ugandan peace talks.
IC was responsible for raising awareness to different countries about the LRA but did not directly aid in ending night commuting. Their role now is empowering the children in giving them an education and opportunity after such horrific experiences of displacement and war.