The International Community’s Struggle Against the Lord’s Resistance Army
In the past few weeks, various entities of the United Nations examined the threat to regional security in Central Africa posed by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). The UN Secretary-General released reports on the LRA and on the work of the UN regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA) (the latter was inaugurated earlier this year with a mandate, among other responsibilities, to coordinate the UN’s response to the LRA). Additionally, Abou Moussa, head of UNOCA, discussed the issue with the UN Security Council (UNSC), and, through a statement made by the UNSC president, the UNSC condemned the LRA’s ongoing attacks and requested the Secretary-General to produce another report on LRA developments before May 2012.
The LRA was formed in the late 1980s in northern Uganda and, as the Secretary-General’s report notes, now has fewer than five hundred combatants according to recent estimates. However, the Secretary-General’s report, as well as other UN reports (in particular, see relevant reports of the Secretary-General as part of the 1612 Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism here, here, here, and here, as well as reports published by various NGOs here, here, and here) detail the devastating effect the armed group has had on civilians in Central Africa. As the Secretary-General’s report states:
Between January and August 2011, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs received reports of 254 attacks by LRA on civilians in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan and the Central African Republic, resulting in 126 deaths and 368 persons abducted. An estimated 440,000 persons are currently internally displaced or living as refugees owing to LRA attacks; 335,000 are displaced in the Democratic Republic of the Congo alone.
For statistical analyses of the victims of the LRA’s forced conscription activities, see two articles written by Phuong N. Pham, Patrick Vinck, and Eric Stover — one published by Human Rights Quarterly in 2008 and another published by BMC Psychiatry in 2009.
The Secretary-General’s report calls on donor states to increase support for the UN presence in the region and encourages the African Union to continue its efforts to implement a regional strategy to combat the LRA, appoint an African Union Special Envoy for the LRA-affected areas, and operationalize a regional intervention force. An International Crisis Group report published last month echoes these concerns and recommendations, and further details the international community’s struggle against the LRA. For ongoing updates on the LRA, see LRA Crisis Tracker, which aggregates LRA-related news and analyses.
