Hope and Action for the Children of Northern Uganda and East Africa

Faith McDonnell

May 14, 2010

Me, Grace Akallo, and U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) at the launch of our book Girl Soldier

It is always nice to share good news with you!  Last night, the U.S. House of Representatives passed overwhelmingly by voice vote the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act. The Senate already passed unanimously the bill in March, so it is off to President Obama’s desk to be signed into law!

This bill addresses one of the most critical situations in East Africa. If you have read Girl Soldier: A Story of Hope for Northern Uganda’s Children (Chosen Books, 2007), written by former child soldier Grace Akallo and me, you will know what a horrific scourge on humanity the LRA and its leader Joseph Kony have been.

In recent months, the LRA has committed atrocities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Central African Republic (CAR).  In the DRC, already suffering from its own war, the LRA killed over 1200 people in the past two years and displaced as many as 320,000. According to experts, over 200 people have been killed and 400 abducted in CAR since 2008.

But the LRA has been devastating northern Uganda and South Sudan for almost three decades! They have killed hundreds of thousands, abducted over 30,000 children to brutalize and turn into killing machines, and forced almost the entire population of Acholi people into squalid internal displacement camps in northern Uganda.

I watched vote on the LRA Disarmament/Northern Uganda Recovery Act take place on CSPAN.  This was bipartisanship as few issues are on Capitol Hill. Democrats and Republicans worked together as true partners to get the bill passed. Every member who spoke was inspiring, passionate, and well-informed. It made me wish that the kids who are victimized by the LRA could hear what these members of Congress said, so that they would know how much they are in the hearts and minds of Americans.

Betty Bigombe (activist and former member of Ugandan Parliament) and Michael Poffenberger (co-founder and executive director, Resolve Uganda) at the Gulu Walk to raise awareness and funds for schools in Gulu, Northern Uganda.

U.S. Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC) depicted the LRA well when he said, “If the LRA ever sought to right some supposed wrong, if there was ever a grievance or cause that motivated the LRA, that has all long since been forgotten. The LRA’s atrocities are barbarism for barbarism’s own sake.” And Congressman Ed Royce (R-CA) highlighted the important point that Kony has “the support of the Islamist government in Sudan. . .which wanted to hit back at Uganda’s leader for his support of Christians and animists in Southern Sudan.” He said that Khartoum provided ammunition, intelligence, and other forms of support for the LRA.

It was also wonderful to hear the tributes that the members of Congress paid to the American young people who have worked and lobbied and demonstrated and prayed to make this happen. As I told some of my young friends who are giving their lives on behalf of the children in northern Uganda, “You are not just making history, you are changing history.”

In her remarks, U.S. Rep. Ileana Ross-Lehtinen (R-FL) said, “The fact that we are even debating this topic today is largely due to the tireless efforts of young advocates throughout the United States, including in my own congressional district, who have passionately taken up the cause of those whose lives have been destroyed by the LRA.”

Congressman James McGovern (D-MA) also praised the young people, thanking such organizations and activists as “Invisible Children, Resolve Uganda, the ENOUGH! Project, and many other religious and human rights groups who have rallied in support of the people and especially the children of this region of Africa.” He continued that Americans, thousands in high school and college, “understood that the children and people of northern Uganda, the DRC, the southern Sudan, and the CAR have no voice in Washington . . . today is a good day, a very good day,” he exclaimed, “because today these hundreds of thousands of voices have brought this bill to the House floor today for final passage.”

U.S. Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA) added, “One of the reasons that we have this worthy legislation before us . . .  is due to a group of young people who have dedicated their voices and energy to getting the heart-wrenching situation in Uganda the attention it demands. The Invisible Children Organization, which has its headquarters in my district, has brought the awful acts of the Lord’s Resistance Army to light. The group has galvanized an entire generation of young people here to care about children halfway around the world.”

I must admit, though, that one of my favorite moments was the floor speech by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ). Smith, one of the great heroes of religious liberty and human rights, gave a “shout out” to Grace Akallo and me. Mr. Smith spoke of Grace’s abduction by the LRA and said “Ms. Akallo eventually escaped, and her remarkable story was recounted in a book entitled, “Girl Soldier: A  Story of Hope for Northern Uganda’s Children,” that she coauthored with human rights activist Faith McDonnell. I highly recommend the book to my colleagues and anyone who wants to learn more about these incredible human rights violations and how we can all work together to address and to stop them.” It’s nice to be acknowledged from the floor of the House of Representatives, but especially when it is by someone that you admire as much as I admire Chris Smith!

The LRA Disarmament/Northern Uganda Recovery Act brings new priority and resources to this critical situation. Our friends at Resolve Uganda summarized the provisions of the bill. First, the bill demands that resolving this crisis must be a higher priority for the United States. It commits America to helping protect civilians, apprehend top LRA commanders, and provide assistance to affected communities. It also requires the President to go on the record within 180 days with a detailed strategy on how to ensure that the LRA be stopped, permanently. All the members of Congress who were co-sponsors (201 in the House and 65 in the Senate) will help shape the President’s strategy.

In addition, the bill authorizes increased humanitarian aid for those in Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Central African Republic who have been forced to flee their homes as a result of LRA attacks; it recommends funds to support reconciliation and justice processes to help heal ethnic and regional divisions in Uganda and to hold accountable both the LRA and the Ugandan government for crimes committed over the course of the war; it demands improved leadership from the Ugandan government to ensure the correct implementation of northern Uganda’s Peace, Recovery, and Development Plan; and it requires a progress report from the State Department one year after the bill passes.

As Congressman Jim McGovern said yesterday, today is a good day, a very good day!