Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Kampala (Agenzia Fides)- “The problem is not only humanitarian”. This is the challenge which AVSI (Associazione Volontari per lo Sviluppo Internazionale), Italian NGO connected with the Salesian Fathers intends to launch on Monday 10 July to the European Parliament in Brussels, with a seminar on “The human challenge in Northern Uganda. Witness of War, Hope & Peace”.
AVSI has been present in Northern Uganda since 1984 with programmes of development andhumanitarian emergency mainly funded by ECHO, European Commission Humanitarian Organisation.
In Northern Uganda in the regions of Acholi, Lango and Teso, 90% of the people live in camps because of civil war which abducts children and uses them as soldiers, destroys villages and cultivated fields and brutally mutilates those who object. At present about 1,600.000 people live in 200 overcrowded camps without even the basic necessities. Services of water and sanitation are below tolerable humanitarian standards with less that 6.5 litres of water per head per day.
These conditions foster spread of diseases like the recent outbreak of cholera. Monthly humanitarian aid meets only 40-60% of food needs. 58% of healthcare services in the towns of Lira, Gulu and Kitgum work on and off and are close to collapse. It is very difficult to find medical personnel willing to work in northern Uganda. Schooling is precarious with 50% of primary schools closed because of the war .
The United Nations Organisation estimates that at least 25,000 children have been abducted to serve as soldiers or slaves. The people are totally dependent on humanitarian aid. What future is there in northern Uganda today, is a question also asked by missionaries working there despite danger and difficulties. In many parts of northern Uganda the Catholic Church is the only institution which supplies basic assistance from food to schooling and healthcare. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 3/7/2006 righe 33 parole 393)
