09 12 12 New report warns UN and AU are failing to defeat Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA)

Tepid political commitment from regional governments, lack of urgency
from the UN and an under resourced AU mission are the key causes of the failure.

“For too long,
the people of the central Africa have suffered from unspeakable atrocities
committed by the LRA. Their children have been abducted and murdered. Their
families have been forced from their homes and their livelihoods destroyed. The
UN has shown great leadership, and invested a great deal, in developing a
strategy to support these populations and respond to the horrors of the LRA. It
must not fall short now. There is too much at stake and too much to lose,”
Ben Keesey, Chief Executive Officer of Invisible Children,
said.

 

The report comes as violence is again escalating in the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC) and amid reports that the Sudanese government is
harboring the LRA. Both of these developments could give the LRA the opportunity
to reassert itself in the region. The evidence of ineffective UN-AU
collaboration is also of concern in the light of a likely military intervention
in Mali.

“This report is
a wakeup call for the Security Council. Unless they reenergize the strategy and
ensure that regional governments are effectively engaged then the whole process
could fall apart. The Secretary General must publicly affirm his determination
to see the UN Regional Strategy on the LRA implemented in full,” said
Ernest Sugule, National Coordinator of Solidarité et Assistance intégrale aux
Personnes Démunies (SAIPED), in the DRC.

 

The international
community also has a critical role to play to support the UN and AU’s
efforts.

 

“The UN, in
partnership with the African Union and international donors, should vigorously
lead the effort to end the LRA conflict. To deliver on the UN strategy will
require more troops, access for the troops to LRA safe havens, enhanced
intelligence, and improved efforts to promote defections. At this critical
moment, the UN must rise to the challenge,” John
Bradshaw, Executive Director of the Enough Project, said.

 

/ Ends

Signatory organisations: 

1. African Association for the Defense of Human
Rights (ASADHO)

2. Congolese Action for Access to Justice (ACAJ)

3. Dungu-Doruma Diocesan Commission for Justice
and Peace (CDJP)

4. The Enough Project

5. European Network for Central Africa (EurAc)

6. Global Center for the Responsibility to
Protect

7. Group LOTUS

8. IKV Pax Christi

9. Invisible Children

10. Resolve

11. Solidarity and Integrated Assistance to Vulnerable
Populations (SAIPED)