The Security Council today strongly condemned the ongoing attacks and atrocities carried out by the armed group known as the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and urged that the United Nations regional strategy designed to tackle the threat be carried out as soon as possible.
"The Council demands an immediate end to all attacks by the LRA, particularly those on civilians, urges LRA leaders to release all those abducted, and insists that all LRA elements put an end to such practices, and disarm and demobilise," the 15-member body said a presidential statement.
The regional strategy, which was endorsed by the Council in June, focuses on five key strategic objectives to address the threat posed by the LRA - the Ugandan rebel group notorious for carrying out massacres in villages, mutilating its victims and abducting boys for use as child soldiers, while girls are often forced into sexual slavery.
The Council has urged swift implementation of the strategy's objectives. These include support for the full operationalization and implementation of the African Union (AU) regional cooperation initiative against the LRA; enhancing efforts to promote the protection of civilians; and expanding current disarmament, demobilization, repatriation, resettlement and reintegration activities to cover all LRA-affected areas.
The other objectives are to promote a coordinated humanitarian and child protection response in these areas, and to support LRA-affected governments in the fields of peacebuilding, human rights, rule of law and development, to enable them to establish State authority across their territories.
In its presidential statement today, the Council urged the UN Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA), the UN political and peacekeeping missions in the region and other relevant UN presences to coordinate their efforts in support of the implementation of the strategy, and called on the international community to provide assistance "as possible" to advance these goals.
Furthermore, the Secretary-General was requested to present to the Council a prioritised and sequenced implementation plan to support the strategy no later than 28 February 2013, based on a clear division of labour between all parts of the international system as well as UN organizations.
Yesterday, the Secretary-General's Special Representative and head of UNOCA, Abou Moussa, told the Council that the UN and the AU will seek increased funding early next year for the strategy
"The most urgent step revolves around the need to promptly finalize the LRA programmatic document and mobilize sufficient resources for its full implementation," he said.
He added that once the programmatic document is finalized, his office, in partnership with the office of the AU Special Envoy on the LRA, Francisco Madeira, plans to organize a resource mobilization forum early next year with the aim of raising funds for the most critical areas of the strategy.
The LRA was formed in the 1980s in Uganda and for over 15 years its attacks were mainly directed against Ugandan civilians and security forces, which in 2002 dislodged the rebels. They then exported their activities to Uganda's neighbours, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic and South Sudan.
The Council welcomed the "significant" increase in individuals escaping or defecting from the LRA over recent months, and strongly supported ongoing efforts to promote defections through the distribution of leaflets, targeted radio broadcasts, and the establishment of safe reporting sites.
In addition, it called for the remaining LRA fighters to leave the group's ranks and participate in a disarmament, demobilization, repatriation, resettlement and reintegration process.
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This I agree with!! reintergration of all Africans; I use this in the context that as Africans it is important to note that African Unity should be priority of 2013'. Many outer nations do not want to see Africa unified this is why they will sell us on the ICC agenda and everything else except the evolution of the natural Jurisprudnece of the African judicial and legislative acquired international standards ". Uganda has to b careful of this,' lets fund this and lets fund that ??? Uganda must send more graduates to more technical institutions so they mau help to fast forward the development of this rich nation. The days of greed and begging or asking is now no longer part of the African subculture';devised by western hegemonist. Uganda has one of the most professional armies in Africa, its time for this force to become a technical force ,with technical modern technology, requiring Univesrity graduate implimentation!!!. This close relationship with the west should also result in officers going on from universities to West Point Annapolis aand the name of the UK S training officers schools eludes me but there also should Africa have a pronounced pressence!!. Education is necesarry for the profesionalism of African forces, all soldiers should e graduates of High schools, officers should be college educated and graduates. "Uganda has set a great precedent with the professional behaviour and excellence of duty in Somalai ;this has been rectified by the Somali people by thier praises!!!. Take it to the next level there is a need for aeronautics pilots flying fast jets which can be attained by speaking to Egypt.Africa has only to use its resources to capitalise on the necesarry technological transfers that will enable them to oofer young people a big piece of the pie'!!. Engineering should be an enormous pull for Ugandans as they need so many differnt forms of engineers, start a drive to select the brighest to aspire to start education in international institutions as I have mentioned. We need more scientist not more guerrilas not more militias. We need more missiles if we want to war ? not more hand guns, these people are using drones and high tech airpalnes !!! we need to combat these superiror weapons with superior defenses. Educated scientist more surgeons more economist more ceos more entrepreneurswizer brigheter yuths. Invest in the rural communities with roads rails giev the people jobs keep the monies on the continent make your shillings strong in Uganda. Mkae your new East African Community make that profound where our youths wont be atttracted and should they be abducted make them aware of thier options.. Education again is important we should make communities aware of thsi threat and how they should deal with it. Mkake them more productive saving enough food and resources for these bandits so they do not have to kidnap but offer them love and show not fear but freindship i am not saying this si an antedote but it will certainly save lives. Many people are now connected to banks via mobile phones so money will not eb available but they can have provisions so they wont distabilise communities and the violence would be at a minimum. Educations means dispersement of knowledge to all the people. Should all the people be educated in the same precautionary methodology then we might see a shift in the violence of these war lords. Africa does not need to be under the microscope of the UN and western nations as if Africa is some lab project or pet charity. Africans are not chrity cases and the patronising of the African continent has suffered the development of the nation allowing for too many underdevelopments in just about all sectors.