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Tens of Thousands of Abducted Children Forced into Child Soldiers;
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There are many tragic situations in the world today, such as Darfur in Western Sudan where suffering appears to have no limits. However, less known but equally as tragic is the extreme suffering in Northern Uganda where millions of people continue to endure unimaginable agony and deplorable humanitarian conditions resulting from an 20 year war which has failed to timely catch the world’s attention or receive adequate response. 1.6 million people, mostly women and children from Uganda’s three northern districts – Gulu, Kitgum and Pader – live as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in IDP camps under conditions which shock the conscience.

Amos (not his real name), age 16, is one of the 1.6 million. A former child soldier, Amos was abducted from his village in rural Pader four years ago when he was 12. He is one of tens of thousands of children – boys and girls – who have been abducted by a brutal militia, Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), and through traumatizing rituals and training, forced into combatant service. Approximately 90% of LRA’s soldiers today are children, some as young as eight, in numbers estimated to be between several thousand to as many as 12,000, led by adult commanders. Approximately 25,000 children have been abducted since the start of the war although the exact numbers can only be estimated. Tens of thousands of mostly rural villagers in Acholi, Lango and Teso have been brutally killed and hundreds of thousands have died from the effects of war since 1986. The horrific suffering and tragedies continue, largely hidden from the world.

The conditions in the IDP camps defy description. On average, 15,000-30,000 people live in each camp; some camps have up to 60,000 people. Most young children suffer from some degree of malnutrition. Many, with distended stomachs, are dying slowly. Caregivers, almost all of whom are women, many of whom are widows, are under huge pressure to feed their children, elder parents and large extended and surrogate families, without sufficient food and resources to accommodate all. Housing is mostly traditionally designed grass roofed huts, but without windows and built closely together for security reasons. Inside the huts, there is lack of adequate bedding or privacy and conditions are cramped, further damaging the social fabric. The camps are surrounded by units of the Uganda People’s Defense Force (UDPF) who try to protect camp residents from recurrent LRA raids and abductions. Many camp residents are infected with contagious diseases, and the crowded conditions help to spread disease. Sanitation is poor, with inadequate toilet facilities and poor drainage resulting in large pools and flows of disease-infested latrine overflows and sewerage water. Children play in this water, resulting in fungal infections and bacterial diseases. Inadequate supplies of clean water compound the hazards. Many people, especially children, suffer and die from preventable and treatable diseases – malaria, diarrhea, tuberculosis and sexually transmitted diseases being among the most common. Many camp residents, especially women and girls, are HIV positive but do not receive management assistance or medical treatment. Many camp resident girls are former abductees who served as sex slaves or were forced to “marry” LRA commanders. Many became HIV positive and gave birth. Some of their children are also HIV positive. Family planning support, women’s reproductive health services, basic sanitary supplies and condoms are almost nonexistent.

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