Uganda: Child Soldiers

Title.

Picture
Marley Melchiorre

Hjelmgren – 7

May 19, 2009

          Uganda: Child Soldiers:

 


            The abduction of child soldiers is affecting the economy and the people of Uganda significantly.  A group called the Lord’s Resistance Army or LRA has fought a twenty-two year old rebellion against the government. Most of the LRA soldiers are believed to be a part of the Acholi tribe from the North (World Geography). When Museveni, a member of the Ankole tribe from southern Uganda, came to power in 1986, the Acholi people lost their previous dominance. Museveni and the LRA continue to be unsuccessful in overpowering one another (World Geography). The Lord’s Resistance Army must be captured to eliminate child abductions and killings.

According to a top United Nations official, the conditions in Uganda are worse than anywhere else in the world (Talwar, Namrita). Thousands of children have been abducted and forced to kill, burn or raid houses, and often are raped. Once kidnapped, they are given military training to be in the LRA. These children are threatened to be killed if they attempt escaping. Girls are raped and are likely to get HIV/AIDS or unwanted pregnancies.  Night commuters are children that are trying to avoid being kidnapped and are seeking refuge in local hospitals and churches at night, while returning home in the morning (Human Rights Watch). Some say that the leader of the LRA, Joseph Kony, wants to rule the country according to the Ten Commandments  (World Geography).  How could one believe this when his soldiers are responsible for abducting more than fourteen thousand children? The LRA has been accountable for brutal attacks on villages, kidnapping, thievery, and creating land mines.  Anyone who attempts to run away or slows down the troops is killed (Ryu Nairobi, Alisha).   Due to these violent attacks, Ugandans are forced into safety camps, leaving behind their farmland and their livelihood. These camps are overcrowded and depend on foreign aid (Talwar, Namrita).

The economy of Uganda is at risk. This country is very dependent on their cash crops, their main export. LRA rebel attacks have drastically affected the planting season creating food shortages and malnutrition. Ugandans are unable to work on the fields, due to the government’s orders to flee to safety camps (Global Issues in Context). A vast number of refugees have decreased the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and created a humanitarian crisis that has diminished any progress in the country, after suffering through previous violence (Global Issues in Context).

            The LRA leaders need to be captured, so Uganda can begin rebuilding their economy. Museveni and his troops must continue rescuing the child soldiers, but they should focus on capturing their leader, Joseph Kony. If the use of child soldiers doesn’t cease then we will continue to take the precious childhood of these children and the LRA could gain control. The people of Uganda desperately need our foreign aid to sustain the food and supplies in their safety camps. Ugandans continue to lose lives and live in fear of the LRA.   

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marley Melchiorre

Hjelmgren - 7

May 18, 2009

                                                              Annotated Bibliography

 

"Lord's Resistance Army." Extremist Groups: Information for  

 Students. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 482487. Global Issues in Context. Gale. NEW

TRIER HIGH SCHOOL - District 203. Retrieved 12 May 2009, from Global Issues in

Context via Gale: http://find.galegroup.com/gic/start.do?prodId=GIC

~This website helped me get information the LRA in Uganda.

 

Talwar, Namrita. "Fostering terror: child soldier crisis in Uganda." UN Chronicle 41.2 (June-

August 2004): 7(2). Global Issues in Context. Gale. NEW TRIER HIGH SCHOOL   -

District 203. Retrieved 12 May 2009, from Global Issues in Context via Gale:

http://find.galegroup.com/gic/start.do?prodId=GIC

~ This website helped me find information on how the economy has changed the to the LRA attacks.

 

"Lord's Resistance Army." World Geography. 2009. ABC-CLIO. 13 May 2009

        http://www.worldgeography.abc-clio.com

~This website helped me get more information on the specifics on the LRA goal.

 

Ryu Nairobi, Alisha. “Analysisi: Uganda's LRA Leaders Must be Captured to Stop Killings”              

26 February, 2009. VoaNews. http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2009-02/2009-02-26-voa40.cfm?

~ This website helped me get information on the damage that the LRA is causing in the country and towards the Ugandans.

 

Human Rights Watch. News. “Uganda: Child Abductions Skyrocket in North.” 27 March, 2003.

            http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2003/03/27/uganda-child-abductions-skyrocket-north

~ This website helped me find information about how the child soldiers are being treated.