NAIROBI, Apr 1, 2006 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- The Sudanese civil society organizations on Saturday petitioned the United Nations and governments of Sudan and Uganda to help decimate insurgents from the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel group that has waged a brutal war in northern region.
In an open letter addressed to the UN and governments of Sudan and Uganda, The New Sudanese Indigenous NGOs Network (NESI Network) , an umbrella body comprising 66 organizations condemned the LRA atrocities which it said poses serious threat to the implementation of the southern Sudan peace deal.

By Patrick Jaramogi

UGANDA is set to become the first country in Africa to offer free land to refugees following the approval of the Refugee Bill.

Cabinet earlier approved the Bill that was passed by Parliament last week amidst controversies and bad sentiments.

Minister for disaster preparedness and refugees Lt. Gen. Moses Ali was quoted in the rwandan press as saying, "Uganda wishes to improve the standard of living of refugees in respect to international status.

"Uganda will be the first country

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
KAMPALA, 31 Mar 2006 (IRIN) - The United Nations Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Jan Egeland, arrived in Uganda on Thursday for the first leg of a mission to four countries in the region that are suffering humanitarian crises.

Egeland is expected to meet officials from the government, the donor community and NGOs and assess the humanitarian situation for people who have been displaced by the 20-year conflict in northern Uganda between the rebel Lord's Resistance Army and the national

(New York: 31 March 2006): United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland, today met with Uganda's President Museveni on the second day of a nine day mission to four African nations. Also present at the meeting were Ugandan Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa and Welile Nhlapo, Director, Africa I Division, United Nations Department of Political Affairs. The meeting centred on the situation in northern Uganda.
During their discussion, they noted the need to improve conditions in the camps for internally displaced persons

This week's report covers the following sectors: Agriculture, Coordination and Support Services, Education, Food, Health, Protection / Human Rights / Rule of Law, Refugees and IDPs, Security, Shelter and Non-food Items, Water & Sanitation
(A) Highlights

(B) Middle East,Central Asia and Eastern Europe: (1) Algeria (2) Occupied PalestinianTerritories (3) Pakistan

(C) East & Central Africa: (1) Burundi (2) Congo (3) Congo, DR (4) Ethiopia (5) Kenya (6) Rwanda (7) Somalia (8) Sudan (9) Tanzania (10) Uganda

(D) West Africa: (1) Cote d'Ivoire (2) Liberia

1. Background

Eighteen years of conflict in northern Uganda has resulted in the displacement of over 90% of the population in Gulu, Kitgum and Pader districts into internal displaced peoples (IDP) camps. Congestion, overcrowding, inadequate healthcare services, poor water and sanitation facilities, violence and insecurity in the camps predispose the IDP population to high morbidity and mortality rates. WHO has been supporting the MOH, DDHS and other local and international partners to mitigate the health impact of the conflict in northern Uganda for an extended

By Daniel Wallis

KAMPALA, March 30 (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council must act to end suffering brought by two decades of war in northern Uganda, a coalition of local and foreign aid agencies said on Thursday as U.N. aid chief Jan Egeland flew into the country.

Egeland will hold talks with government officials before visiting camps in the north that are home to more than 1.6 million people sheltering from fighting between troops and rebels from the cult-like Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).

He has called the war one of the world's

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
KAMPALA, 30 Mar 2006 (IRIN) - Some 146 people die each week in the northern region where rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) have waged war against the Uganda government for two decades, charity groups said in a report published on Wednesday.

War-related deaths in the region are three times higher than the number of killings in Iraq since the United States-led invasion that toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 2003 - a death rate that represents 0.17 deaths per 10,000 people, compared with

MCC has joined nine other international aid organizations in calling on the United Nations and the Ugandan government to respond to the humanitarian crisis in northern Uganda.

For 20 years, a rebel group called the Lord's Resistance Army has terrorized northern Uganda by abducting children and forcing them to become child soldiers in a regional war. An estimated 25,000 children have been abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army and more than 1.7 million people have been driven into displacement camps by the conflict.

In a written statement to the U.N. Commission