NORTHERN UGANDA NOTES (July 29 - AUG 10, 2007)

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KAMPALA 001291 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT PASS TO USAID AND OFDA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PREF PREL MOPS ASEC CASC EAID UG SU SUBJECT: NORTHERN UGANDA NOTES (July 29 - AUG 10, 2007) ¶1. (U) Summary: The following Northern Uganda Notes provides information on the situation on the ground and USG activities aimed at meeting Mission's objectives in northern Uganda. These objectives include promoting regional stability through peace and security, good governance, access to social services, economic growth, and humanitarian assistance. Post appreciates feedback from consumers on the utility of this product and any gaps in information that need to be filled. End Summary. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - PEACE AND RECONCILIATION PROCESSES - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶2. (SBU) The Government of Uganda, through the Ministry of Internal Affairs, intends to carry out 10 consultative meetings throughout Uganda between 20 August and 27 September 2007, culminating in a meeting of legal experts and institutions in Kampala to develop proposals for implementing the agreed principles on accountability and reconciliation. USAID and the governments of the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden will each contribute towards a total budget of approximately USD 400,000 to cover the logistical and facilitation costs of the consultations. USAID's contribution would be made through modification of an existing contract with Associates for Rural Development (ARD) for Strengthening Decentralization in Uganda (SDU II). - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE AND ECONOMIC RECOVERY - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶3. (U) USAID's Office of Food for Peace (FFP) has made an August contribution to World Food Program (WFP)/Uganda which will allow WFP to provide three-month resettlement rations to 70,000 IDPs in Pader District. Other recent FFP contributions have allowed WFP to provide resettlement rations to approximately 210,000 IDPs across northern Uganda as the IDPs return home or to transit camps that are close to their homes and allows them access to land for cultivation. This August contribution will probably be the last contribution in FY07. The total FY07 FFP contribution to date to WFP/Uganda is valued at USD 44,349,500. The United States is the largest provider of food aid to WFP/Uganda. As of the end of July, the United States provided 48 percent of WFP's resources in Uganda. Approximately one million IDPs across northern Uganda still require food aid for survival. ¶4. (U) Economic opportunities in northern Uganda and investment confidence are returning to northern Uganda after decades of conflict. One local company, Mukwano Industries, with the support of the USAID-funded Agricultural Productivity Enhancement Program (APEP),has seized on an opportunity to source locally an alternative to imported vegetable oil. The project focuses on a hybrid variety of sunflower that produces twice the oil content per acre as the traditional variety. To date, the 34,000 participating farmers have witnessed their household income increase nearly 30 percent, with collective net earnings in the past three years of more than USD 3.7 million. There are no signs that the sunflower boom in northern Uganda will slow soon. Through collaboration with international seed suppliers, a hybrid sunflower seed will be produced in Uganda. Mukwano provides farmers a guaranteed market and price for the hybrid variety. The company is investing in a multi-million dollar oil processing plant in northern Uganda to increase production. ¶5. (U) Jahal de Meritens, UNDP early recovery cluster expert, arrived this week in Kampala to troubleshoot planning in the early recovery sector, for which UNDP has the lead. De Meretens is a former UNOCHA officer with broad regional experience. He will study ways to improve UNDP operations in Northern Uganda and report to Geneva with recommendations. De Meretens is traveling in Uganda and has met with Embassy officers as part of his inquiries. - - - - - - - - SECURITY UPDATE - - - - - - - - ¶6. (U) As part of USAID support for reconstituting the police in northern Uganda, U.S. Department of Justice's ICITAP conducted a basic investigators course assessment from July 11 to July 26 in Lira for police officers and police personnel. The course covered community policing; crime scene investigation; rights of prisoners, arrestees, women and children; police ethics and first aid to name a few. The course was comprised of theory, practical exercises, and lectures from experts. KAMPALA 00001291 002 OF 002 - - - - - - - - - - - - - IN THE MEDIA AND THE WEB - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶7. (SBU) Conditions in the IDP camps continue to be followed by the media. The July 31 Daily Monitor newspaper reported on a Makerere University Refugee Law Project (RLP) report, "Rapid Assessment of Population Movement in Gulu and Pader." The report noted that in Lango most of the population has moved to decongestion sites, but that this is not the case in Gulu and Kitgum. The newspaper quoted from the report, noting that the GOU "has tended to present the return process in Lango as representative of returns throughout the whole of northern Uganda, and as 'evidence' that the humanitarian situation has dramatically improved." The RLP's director noted further that while there has not been forcible displacement of people, cuts in food rations are having that effect, and that the ration cuts are a result of a perception by donors that the conflict has ended. ¶8. (U) The same paper carries an article, "Food Shortage Fueling Prostitution in IDP Camps." Citing a speech by the director general of the Uganda AIDS Commission, it is noted that young women were turning to prostitution in order to get food. He added that HIV/AIDS prevalence was found to be higher in areas affected by conflict. ¶9. (U) The media also provides coverage of the LRAs search for USD 2 million to fund a consultation process. In the July 31 New Vision the LRA's spokesman, Martin Ojul, lashed out at the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior for saying that the SIPDIS demands for cash were "unreasonable and unrealistic, aimed at delaying the peace process." Ojul accused the PM of making "reckless and malicious political statements calculated at maligning...the integrity of the LRA." While denying that the cash was a precondition for continuing the talks, Ojul insisted that the funds were needed to fund stakeholders' conferences and visits to countries that had experienced similar conflict resolution processes. BROWNING