Invisible Children has been serving communities affected by the LRA since 2003. In that time they have had immense success supporting local leaders in northern Uganda as they have led recovery efforts from two decades of conflict inflicted by the Lord’s Resistance Army. The LRA has fled from Uganda and are now committing attacks on the most remote and isolated communities in central Africa. Invisible Children is following the LRA from Uganda into the Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic, where thousands of people’s lives and livelihoods have been threatened. The projects presented in this plan have been created with the strategic vision and oversight of local leaders on the ground in northeastern Congo. The Invisible Children Protection Plan is the first strategy that will be implemented to prevent future LRA attacks while providing holistic rehabilitation for war-affected children.
For the last 25 years, thousands of people in central Africa have been silenced by the LRA. So, on April 25th, 2011, for 25 hours, thousands of participants around the world will go silent so that the victims of the LRA are heard. Money raised from the 25 event will fund The Invisible Children Protection Plan and bring life saving communication and rehabilitation projects to the victims of the LRA.
The Lord’s Resistance Army is responsible for the longest conflict on the African continent. The UN estimates that over 30,000 children have been abducted by the LRA in the last two decades. Since 2008 alone over 2,300 children have been abducted in DR Congo, and more than 3,100 others have been killed in the DR Congo, the Central African Republic and Sudan.
The LRA began in 1986 as a rebellion against the Ugandan government. But after losing the support of the people they were claiming to protect, they have been on an indiscriminate rampage throughout central Africa. The LRA is attacking communities that have done nothing to provoke a conflict. They are attacking people unaware of who the LRA even is. They are attacking defenseless communities to instill fear, steal supplies, and abduct women and children to replenish their forces.
On several occasions, the LRA has organized large-scale, highly coordinated attacks killing up to 300 people over three days and killing 860 in the span of three weeks. The LRA has remained effective because of the remote nature of the area they are operating in and the porous borders of the surrounding countries. Now, operating in groups between 5-30, the LRA is able to easily move from community to community and across international borders -- meeting little resistance. The small UN peacekeeping force, MONUSCO, which currently has 800 soldiers in the region, has a mandate that limits its ability to impede LRA activity and is often too far away to react to incidents quickly. MONUSCO works with Congolese army soldiers, a poorly trained force who themselves are perpetrators of human rights abuses, and the Ugandan army, who have been called the most effective regional force in apprehending LRA elements.
Joseph Kony, the figurehead and leader of the LRA, has continued his brutal methods of terror and control, which were perfected over decades of insurgency in Uganda. Kony maintains command of the LRA force through fear and brainwashing. Abductees and even officers fear what their superiors will do if they escape, and some LRA combatants even believe that Kony possesses spiritual powers and are told that even in distant towns, one is not safe from the powers of Kony.
LRA forces are currently spread between the Central African Republic, Sudan, and northeastern DR Congo, where Joseph Kony is believed to be hiding. There are approximately 400 known LRA fighters spread over these three countries, 250 are believed to be ethnic Acholi from Uganda with the remaining 150 from the three countries where the LRA currently operates. The LRA travels with children, porters, and women, who act as rebel commander’s wives (sex slaves). Currently, there are no accurate estimates on the numbers of non-combat LRA elements, but new abductions are occurring every week.
The LRA is one of the most dangerous rebel groups in the world, operating in one of the world’s most remote regions, making this conflict and the victims it claims truly invisible.
Please help me support the 25 campaign by donating to: My Fundraising Page for '25'.
Thank You!
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