Resolve Uganda Uganda News Updates for Jan 17-23rd.

Regional Security

• The UN estimates that 900 people have been killed and 130,000 displaced by LRA rebels since September. Human Rights Watch reported this week that over 600 civilians have been killed in the past month alone, a figure expected to rise once further investigations are complete.
  

• The Congolese government extended its permission for Ugandan troops to operate in Congolese territory, which expired in mid-January, until the first week of February.

Situation in Northern Uganda

• A chorus of northern Ugandan political leaders and civil society groups called on the Ugandan government to reverse its decision to delay implementation of the Peace, Recovery and Development Plan for war-affected areas in northern Uganda. Though Ugandan officials maintain the delay is meant to improve the plan’s design, many fear that further delays in its implementation will impede the ability of the region to recover from two decades of war.

International Response

• US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and UN ambassador Susan Rice took office this week as President Barack Obama’s top foreign policy representatives. Though top Africa posts in the new Administration have yet to be filled, the names of the front-runners have leaked to the press.
  

• The UN Security Council condemned the recent wave of LRA attacks in the DR Congo after being briefed on the crisis by the UN’s top humanitarian official. 

• Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International issued statements on the violence in northeastern DR Congo, condemning the LRA atrocities and calling for regional military forces to improve protection of civilians from rebel reprisal attacks.

Full story here.