Evelyn Lirri
28 December 2007
Kampala — CRIMINAL activities continue to pose a threat to security in the war-ravaged northern Uganda, a new report indicates.
The report on the update on the humanitarian situation in the north and north eastern Uganda for the month of November, is compiled by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
"As in previous months, criminal activities continued to pose the gravest threat to individual security in northern Uganda. Several incidents involving armed robbers were recorded during the month,"the report says.
The report cites a November 1 incidence in which armed robbers ambushed a vehicle belonging to a non-governmental organisation, Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (Acted) in Amuru District in which two of the four people in the vehicle were killed.
The report, however, says the general security situation continued to be calm across northern Uganda during the reporting period, with only two non-hostile suspected sightings of Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) remnants.
In Karamoja, the report says general hostilities prevailed throughout the reporting period as the Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF) continued its disarmament campaign at the same intensity as in October.
It says that the UN Department of Security and Safety (UNDSS) recorded 20 cattle raids by Karimojong warriors during the month of November as well as 11 deaths, six injuries and two abductions.
According to the report, the UPDF carried out a record 17 cordon-and-search operations.
Access to camps
The report says all camps in northern Uganda remain accessible without military escort, with only the World Food Programme (WFP) using light military escorts for its food convoys.
"With the relative security, the civilian population is moving about freely within and outside the camps,"it says.
But the report says flood damaged roads and bridges in parts of eastern and northern Uganda remain the only consistent limitation to humanitarian access.
"In Katakwi and Amuria districts, main roads are open, although even light rains can create bottlenecks on roads badly damaged by the flooding," it says.
Food security.
According to the report, 940,000 IDPs received food assistance in Gulu, Kitgum, and Pader and Lira districts in November, with current food rations set at 100 per cent for extremely vulnerable individuals and 60 per cent for none extremely vulnerable people.
It adds that more than 83,500 households (70 per cent) of the IDP population in Gulu and Amuru benefited from general seeds distribution while 7,600 households received farming tools.
In Kitgum and Pader Districts, the report says trainings on agronomy, animal husbandry and farming as a business, were given to some 46,000 people.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2007 The Monitor. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
