Kampala — ABOUT 200,000 people are still living in camps for the internally displaced in the north and Teso region.

The disaster preparedness minister, Musa Ecweru, said out of the two million who had been displaced by the LRA insurgency and the 2007 floods, 1.8 million had returned to their homes.

He observed that those remaining in the camps and the returnees had been hit by drought and famine.

"They have not recovered but they have regained their dignity away from the IDP camps," Ecweru noted.

He said his ministry was drafting a policy to transform burial committees into disaster management committees in every village.

"We do not want to wait for people to die but help prevent death by handling disaster," Ecweru said while receiving relief items donated to Amuria district by the Uganda Clearing and Forwarding Association.

The association chairman, Kasim Omar, said they had a moral obligation to support Teso region. "This is what every Ugandan should be doing as part of our social responsibility."