Invisible Children shows its support of Northern Uganda Recovery Act
The organization holds many events in recognition of displaced Ugandans.
Published May 4, 2010
Invisible Children has been striving to push the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act through Congress for almost a year. If implemented, the bill will end the 24-year civil war in Uganda.
"This bill is the single best chance that we have to bringing an end to the war," MU Invisible Children Chapter founder Becky Dale said.
According to the Resolve Uganda website, the bill will apprehend Joseph Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army of child soldiers, protect the people affected by the war and authorize $10 million for three years in emergency recovery support for DR Congo, South Sudan and Central African Republic communities.
"It's important to note that while this bill does call for military action, it's only because history has shown that Kony doesn't want anything to do with a peace bill," Invisible Children Co-President Brandon Schatsiek said. "They've all been at the table before on the verge of peace only to see Kony use that time to regroup his troops and kill and abduct more people."
After passage through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in December 2009, the bill passed unanimously through the full Senate in March, thanks to a "hold out" in front of Oklahoma senator Tom Coburn's office.
Schatsiek said people from across the U.S. met in Oklahoma City and slept outside in the wind and cold for 11 days to encourage Coburn to lift his hold on the bill.
"We made history over those 11 days," Schatsiek said. "As Mizzou students we took a few different trips there for the weekend to sleep on the cold concrete in support of our brothers and sisters in Invisible Children. Being a part of something like that taught me we really can change history. Things like a person's age, sex, race or religion doesn't matter when it comes to making a difference in the world. It shows that we can do anything if we have love in our hearts and the power in numbers of people."
On April 28, the legislation went to the House Foreign Affairs Committee where it was unanimously approved with the help of over 5,400 people that signed the Berman|Ros-Lehtinen Petition in four days.
The next step for the bill's passage is a floor vote in the full House of Representatives some time in the next few weeks. If approved, President Barack Obama will sign it into law, mandating that he devise a strategy within 180 days to work with international partners and the Ugandan government to achieve peace.
"This is the first time citizens of America are calling on the president to make a public statement about the war and work with other countries to end it," Dale said. "The presence of the U.S. is the single deciding factor that can get so many others on board."
Invisible Children encourages everyone to call or send e-mails to members of the House over the next weeks, urging them to cosponsor the bill. It needs 218 committed representatives in order to work towards the termination of a war that has affected millions of people and outlasted four U.S. presidents.
"I'm not one to say that military action is always the best way to go about things, but in this case it's obvious that Kony and the LRA don't want peace," Schatsiek said. "If we can take Kony out then this war will end and the peace that has evaded central Africa for more than 23 years will finally bring thousands of child soldiers and hundreds of thousands of displaced people back home."