UGANDA Northern Uganda briefing paper May 2006 I. ADMINISTRATIVE DISTRICTS - REGIONS AFFECTED BY HUMANITARIAN CRISIS S U D A N Moyo Kaabong Koboko Yumbe Kitgum Adjumani Arua Pader Kotido Gulu Nebbi Moroto Lira Amuria Apac Nakapiripirit Masindi Katakwi Amolotar KaberamaidoSoroti L.L. AlbertAlbertHoima L.L. Kyoga Kumi D E M. R E P. C O N G O Nakasongola Kapchorwa Bukwo Kayunga Sironko Kamuli Pallisa Nakaseke Kaliro Kiboga Butaleja Kibaale Mbale Manafwa K E N Y A Iganga Bundibugyo Luwero Tororo Kabarole Kyenjojo Jinja Mubende Mukono Busia Mayuge Mityana Kampala Kasese Wakiso Kamwenge Mpigi Sembalule Mukono Ibanda Bugiri Kiruhura Bushenyi Masaka Kalangala Mbarara Rakai Rukungiri Isingiro Kanungu L. Victoria Ntungamo Kisoro Kabale T A N Z A N I A R W A N D A UGANDA Northern Uganda briefing paper May 2006 II. BASIC INDICATORS Northern Indicators Nationwide Uganda Human development index rank (UNDP, 2005) 144 (of 177) Illiteracy rate - % (UNDP, 2005) 32.3 54.0 % population living below poverty line, 1990 -2002 (UNDP, 2005) 56.0 n/a % population living below poverty line , 2003 (UNDP, 2005) 38.8 63 % population not expected to live to age 40 (UNDP, 2005) 42.9 47.1 Moderate malnutrition among children - % (Ministry of Health, 2003) 23 25 HIV/AIDS prevalence rate (Ministry of Health, 2005) 7.0 9.1 Population with out access to safe water - % (UNDP, 2005) 37.4 29.7 III. HUMANITARIAN SITUATION At present, four main issues are of concern for the humanitarian action and programmes in Uganda : 1) Continued displacement of approximately 1. 8 million persons in Acholi region (Gulu, Kitgum and Pader districts), parts of Adjumani district, Lango region (Apac and Lira districts) and parts of Teso region (particularly in Katakwi district). Living conditions in the majority of displacement camps remain extremely precarious, despite the increased intervention of the humanitarian community (36 NGOs and the UN agencies). T hus, these overcrowded camps are prone to recurrent disease outbreaks (meningitis and cholera outbreaks since January 2006) , wildfires during the dry season and human rights abuses , from both Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Ugandan People Defense Force (UPDF) /Local Defense Units (LDU), including sexual and gender -based violence. The 2005 Mortality Survey carried out in Gulu, Giovanni Diffidenti/OCHA Kitgum and Pader districts in July 2005 (Ministry of Health, WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, WFP, IRC) estimates crude and under -5 mortality rates at 1.54/10,000/day and 3.18/10,000/day respectively , well in excess of the emergency threshold of 1/10,000/day. Survey findings also indicate that the leading causes of mortality are malaria, diarrhea, violence and HIV/AIDS. Malnutrition, HIV/AIDS and limited access to quality health services compound the problem. 2) Return of displaced population in Teso region (Soroti, Kaberamaido, Amuria and Katakwi districts) and southern parts of Lango region (Apac and Lira districts) Recent estimates (District Disaster Management Committees, WFP, OCHA) indicate that 393,000 persons have returned home in Lango and Teso regions. These include 81,000 persons in Amuria district, 68,000 in Katakwi, 114,000 in Kaberamaido, 99,000 in Soroti and 31,000 in the Dokolo and Bata sub-counties in Lira district. In 2005, at least 60,000 people moved f rom the urban displacement camps in Lira town to rural ones closer to their original homes. This constitute a gradual or phased return. A series of joint assessments of return areas were conducted in April 2006 in order to evaluate the needs for early reco very assistance to those who have already returned as well as organised return for those who have expressed the wish to return. Early recovery interventions will span from 6 to 18 months and focus on improving access to basic services and livelihood in are as of return. Preliminary UGANDA Northern Uganda briefing paper May 2006 assessment findings point to the following: lack of teachers in schools due to lack of staff housing, lack of equipment and school materials; extremely poor condition of the health services including need to refurbish the infrastr ucture, lack of staff and staff housing, and an appalling lack of medical equipment underpin all the health cent re assessed. The absence of micro -credit facilities in all but one of the 22 parishes assessed (and the reported difficulty in understanding the mechanisms to access facilities when existing) results in overwhelming reliance on agriculture. Finally, the lack of trained personnel dealing with justice and civilian police throughout the district is an area of concern. 3) Cattle-rustling and ethnic tension in Karamoja region (Kotido, Moroto, and Nakapiripirit districts) Internal displacement spills over into eastern parts of Teso region (Soroti, Amuria and Katakwi districts), Pader and Kitgum district s, and hampering durable return of displaced populations in Katakwi district . The fear of Karimojong “warriors”, as they are known locally, is prevalent among displaced and returned population of neighbouring districts. Escorts from local militias and LDUs are often necessary for the population to graze their cattle or collect wood for cooking fires. In the Karamoja region, WFP estimates that 70,000 people will continue to receive food assistance including to schools and girls receiving “take -home rations”. However, approximately 150,000 people are considered highly vulnerable due to recurr ing violence, food insecurity and high disease incidence, with only 3% of the whole population in the sub -region having access to adequate sanitation and less than 30% with access to education facilities. 4) Refugees: 177,000 mainly from Sudan in West Nile sub -region and 61,000 from DRC, Sudan and Rwanda in Western districts. Uganda hosts 172,312 southern Sudanese refugees. In January 2006, UNHCR started registering refugees who wished to return voluntarily. By mid-February, 27,000 had been registered but due to funding constrains and security deteriorating rapidly in southern Sudan, only 5,000 persons will be repatriated in the coming months. The first 160 refugees w ere repatriated on 2 May. In January and February a massive influx of Congolese crossing into Uganda was registered, largely over 20,000. A total of 3,046 asylum seekers have been relocated to refugee settlements. The phenomenon of Congolese seeking safety overnight on the Ugandan side of the border ha s increased – reports mention up to 10,000 persons at a time. Their presence has stretched the hosting capacity of the border areas in terms of water, sanitation and shelter. IV. ACCESS AND SECURITY Since the last quarter of 2005, the security situation in con flict-affected districts had been characterized by constant fluctuations in numbers of LRA attacks, varying in scope and intensity, thus creating pockets of insecurity in the Acholi region and northern Lango sub-region. However, the overall number of incidents involving the LRA is clearly on the decrease in 2006. This situation has prompted a review by the UPDF of the security arrangements for the security to humanitarian workers and access to IDP camps in Northern Uganda, namely the provision of military escorts system that had been put in place in the wake of the November 2005 UGANDA Northern Uganda briefing paper May 2006 attacks on humanitarian workers. Overall, effective from April 2006, scaled down military escorts only apply to the delivery of food aid by WFP and non -food items by agencies and NG Os to displacement camps as well as emergency interventions in the camps. 42 displacement camps in 4 districts (Gulu, kitgum, Pader and Lira) still require military escort to be accessed by UN agencies while 103 can be accessed without. Movement restrictions remain in place for displaced populations, thus limiting their movements outside the camps to a few hours a day. In general, IDPs are allowed to move out between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. and within a radius of 2 -5km out of camps. Access to farmland, fir ewood collection, hunting and other livelihood activities carried out in the bush are mostly affected. No LRA-related security incidents have been recorded in Teso region this year. Nevertheless, the Karimojong who have traditionally engaged in cattle -stealing raids, crossed to Teso and Lango regions as well as Kitgum and Pader districts in January -February 2006, in search of water and pasture. Clashes with the UPDF and militias have been frequent since the beginning of the year. V. INTERNALLY DISPLACED P ERSONS AND RETURN PROCESS Two types of movement of population in northern Uganda must be differentiated : 1) an ongoing return of displaced population in Lango and Teso regions, and 2) an apprehensive movements of some people outside displacement camps in Ac holi region. 1) Return of displaced population in Lango and Teso regions. Recent estimates from District Disaster Management Committees, WFP and OCHA indicate that 362,000 persons have returned home, without the full return package contemplated in the IDP Policy but just food assistance from WFP, in Teso region since the end of 2004. These include 8 1,000 persons in Amuria , 68,000 in Katakwi, 114,000 in Kaberamaido and 99,000 in Soroti districts. OCHA, in consultation with partners, will conduct rapid needs assessment in May to determine remaining levels of vulnerability among the returned and still displaced population in the Teso region . Return in the Lango region, in particular in Lira district is slower with 31,000 people having returned in the Dokolo and Bata sub-counties. In total, approximately 100,000 IDPs are expected to return within six months. Approximately 250,000 IDPs remain in displacement camps in the northern part of the district, less secure than south Lira, and it is generally accepted that they are not likely to move before the end of the year.