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Status for 2003

Uganda's forgotten war

Has the world forgotten about us? That is the question raised by children in northern Uganda. At least 20,000 children have been kidnapped and forced into being child soldiers in one of the most brutal rebel armies in the world. And the kidnapping of children continued in 2003.

Jennifer Achoro was twelve years old and on her way to school when she was kidnapped. "I had just put on my school uniform and was about to eat breakfast, when some men from the rebel army came and asked my mother whether we had a radio. When she said ‘No,' they forced their way into our hut and forced me along with them."

Jennifer Achoro is one of the many thousands of former child soldiers that have received help from the Save the Children Denmark-supported rehabilitation centre Gusco.

One day in December 1996, Jennifer was forced to treck through the bush to the camp of the LRA rebel army (LRA stands for Lord's Resistance Army) in Sudan. That was the beginning of a life in one of the most brutal armies in the world. Jennifer was held captive by the rebel army from she was twelve to seventeen years of age. While held captive, she was forced to "marry" one of the rebel army commanders and gave birth to a son, now three years of age.

Jennifer Achoro is one of at least 20,000 children kidnapped by the LRA in northern Uganda. Jennifer escaped after five years in Sudan, and just like several thousand other former child soldiers, she has received help at the Save the Children Denmark-supported rehabilitation centre Gusco (Gulu Support the Children Organization) in the town of Gulu in northern Uganda.

Save the Children Denmark has been working in northern Uganda since 1995 and operates Gusco together with a local partner organisation. All of the former child soldiers at Gusco have deep emotional scars. Some recount that they have hundreds of killings on their conscience. Many child soldiers are forced back to their own villages to kidnap schoolmates and kill village residents. According to estimates, the majority of the children returning from captivity are infected with HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases.

While at the centre, the former child soldiers come to terms with their experiences through art therapy, dialogue, sport, dance and rituals, such as burning their uniforms and choosing new clothing, symoblising the beginning of a new life. Effort is made to track down relatives and prepare the children, parents and the local communities that the children might return.

Refugees of the night
The sombre consequences of the war in northern Uganda can be seen every evening on the two gravel roads leading to the town of Gulu. Thousands are on the march at dusk. Many have blankets and rush mats on their head. The so-called refugees of the night live in their villages by day, but fear of being kidnapped drives them to leave their villages and go to town to overnight at busstations and on the streets.

In Gulu Save the Children Denmark helps these thousands of children who come in from the rural areas every evening. The children are assigned a safe place to sleep with mattresses and blankets, and a group of adults looks after them while they sleep.

In addition to concrete relief programmes, an important part of the Save the Children Denmark efforts in northern Uganda is to set this situation on the international agenda.

Every evening several thousand children walk to the town of Gulu to seek protection from the rebel army. Save the Children Denmark helps the so-called refugees of the night, enabling them to spend the night in safety.

Or as Susanne Kirk Christiansen from the Save the Children Denmark office in Uganda explains:

"The war in northern Uganda has been going on for 18 years, and it cannot be won by military means. Save the Children Denmark encourages the Danish Government to exercise all possible influence to press the Ugandan Government to significantly increase the protection of the population – children in particular – in northern Uganda."

Save the Children Denmark in northern Uganda:
The situation in northern Uganda has meant that social services such as schooling and health have broken down. Approximately 800,000 people live in camps for the internally displaced and do not have opportunity to cultivate their land and do their work. The state of malnutrition is critical and many children do not go to school. The schools are in poor shape and the teaching is insufficient.

Since 1996, Save the Children Denmark has co-operated with GUSCO (Gulu Support the Children Organization) regarding the establishment of rehabilitation centres for former child soldiers.
Save the Children Denmark provides schooling assistance to approximately 12,000 children affected by the war between the government army and rebel forces. This project includes the establishment of 200 basic classrooms and the distribution of teaching materials.
In 2004, Save the Children Denmark mounted a project aimed at combatting acute malnutrition and undernutrition among children, pregnant women and nursing mothers in camps for internally displaced persons. It is expected that 20,000 children and 8,000 women in total will receive food aid.