Steps taken toward ending children's army in Uganda

MU's Invisible Children group was part of the effort to encourage the U.S. government to act on the issue.

By Jessi Turnure

Published Nov. 30, 2010

The U.S. Congress received President Barack Obama’s “Strategy to Support the Disarmament of the Lord’s Resistance Army,” a measure supported by Invisible Children, on Nov. 24.

“Thankfully, President Obama released the strategy on time, 180 days after the (LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act) was signed, and we were all very excited to see it arrive,” said MU Invisible Children Chapter Co-President Annie Bastida.

This 36-page plan is a step in the effort to completely rid Northern Uganda and its surrounding areas of Joseph Kony’s children's army, which has plagued the areas with violence for over two decades.

“A framework for success has been set into place with this strategy,” Bastida said. “The men and women that worked on this plan should be applauded. It is full of their thoughtfulness, intelligence and dedication to end this war.”

Obama’s document states that the focal points of the strategy are, “The increased protection of civilians, the apprehension or removal of Joseph Kony and senior LRA commanders from the battlefield, the promotion of defections from the LRA and support of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration of remaining LRA fighters and the provision of continued humanitarian relief to affected communities.”

MU Invisible Children Chapter Co-President Becky Dale said Resolve, a partner organization of Invisible Children, mainly pushed the strategy.

According to the strategy, the preferred outcomes are that there will no longer be a threat to civilians and that regional stability will be restored.

“Anything can look good on paper, though,” Bastida said. “The true test of this strategy will be the implementation of it.”

The MU chapter of Invisible Children has also had accomplishments leading to Obama’s signing of the strategy. They urged Obama to sign the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act in May and recently met with representatives of Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and former Rep. Gary Marble, D-Mo., to raise urgency and awareness about it.

“This has been a long but rewarding experience for myself and anyone else involved in Invisible Children,” Bastida said. “IC has been working to get Obama to release a strategy since the bill became a law. It was not long after the bill was signed into law that Resolve and Invisible Children geared up with a pledge to read the strategy after it was released.”

Although the strategy has been released, Bastida said the Obama administration needs to take other steps to ensure its success.

Bastida said these steps would include President Obama incorporating a significant increase in resources in his FY 2012 budget request to address the crisis and designating a senior State Department official to oversee the strategy’s implementation to finally end Kony’s atrocities.

Invisible Children hopes this will be the beginning of the end, but are still keeping very busy till then.

Bastida said Invisible Children at MU will continue its participation in the Schools for Schools competition and spread more awareness about Africa’s longest running war. Also, a teacher from Uganda will be coming to Rock Bridge High School in January through Invisible Children’s teacher exchange program.

“I encourage everyone to read the strategy because over 6,000 people have pledged to read it along with several Congress people,” Dale said. “It will be one of the most frequently read strategies.”