All IDP camps to close by March 2010| All IDP camps to close by March 2010 |
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All IDP camps to close by March 2010 The Resident District Commissioner for Kitgum District, Mr. Omwony Ogaba has announced that all camps for the Internally Displaced Persons will be closed by 31st March 2010.  Mr. Ogaba made the revelation during a meeting with His Excellency Ambassador Vincent De Visscher, the Head of Delegation (HoD) for the European Commission to Uganda on 20th November 2009. The HoD was conducting a round trip monitoring visit to Northern Uganda Rehabilitation Programme (NUREP) funded projects in Pader, Kitgum, Lira and Gulu districts. According Mr. Ogaba, President Yoweri Museveni will officiate at the official IDP camp closure ceremony on 11th December 2009 in Kitgum. The people of Northern Uganda have lived in camps for the last 20 years with 2 million crammed in the camps at the peak of the insurgency. Since 2006 when the Juba Peace Talks started and the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement was signed leading to the LRA’s departure from northern Uganda, the IDPs have been steadily returning home. According to the Northern Uganda Data Centre (NUDC), 77% of IDPs have returned home and to date, less than 500,000 people, a majority of whom are in Acholiland, still remain in the camps. While 100% of the IDPs in Lango have left the camps, in Acholi different districts have varying populations still in the camps. The figures of those still remaining in the camps are Amuru 36%, Kitgum 16%, Pader 12% and Gulu 9%. A majority of these are living in transit sites from where they are being encouraged and supported to return in the homes of origin. NUREP has supported the return and resettlement of IDPs through infrastructural rehabilitation and provision of equipment in the health, education, law and order and local administration sectors. Through its NGO partners NUREP provided livelihoods support to the local population through retooling local people with an asset base of agricultural and farm inputs, vocations skills based equipment and through training in various skills. The Programme provided water through construction of boreholes, water troughs, solar and windmill driven water sources, valley dams and tanks etc. The programme also contributed to the reestablishment of community peace building and reconciliation mechanisms, psycho-social support and broadly in the resettlement, reintegration and peaceful coexistence of the local people in the region. In October 2009, the Government of Uganda, through the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), hosted the African Union Special Summit on refugees, returnees and IDPs. The meeting adopted the ‘African Convention on the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa. Africa hosts almost half of the world’s internally displaced people — 11 million out of an estimated 25 million. Within the continent, Eastern Africa has the largest number of displaced – over eight million. However even as people return home, Mr. Ogaba pointed at two key challenges: land wrangles/scarcity which is a source of conflict and the aggravated deforestation arising from the clearing of land by returnees for agriculture. |
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| Last Updated ( Thursday, 10 December 2009 07:46 ) |
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