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Uganda

Uganda: Master plan for north unveiled

By Emmy Allio
AFTER nearly two decades of war, destruction and human degradation, northern Uganda is now heading for what can be dubbed as the "Marshal Plan," a multi-million dollar recovery and development strategy, to be launched next week.

The Government, with the approval of the United Nations, donor countries and Non-Government Organisations, has formed the Joint Country Coordination and Monitoring Committee (JCCMC) on northern Uganda.

A senior government official compared the JCCMC to the 1947 plan by the US Secretary of State, George C. Marshal, to reconstruct Europe after World War II.

JCCMC, to be launched next week, is chaired by Prime Minister Apolo Nsibambi and will have 21 members, nine of them from the Government.

There are six members drawn from the core partners group that include the US, the UK, Norway, the Netherlands, Canada and South Africa. The UN has four members: the World Bank, WFP, UNDP's humanitarian affairs coordinator and OCHA.

The NGOs are represented by Civil Society Organisation for Peace in northern Uganda and the Northern NGO Forum.

In a document presented on March 20, to a UN-organised meeting in Geneva, foreign affairs minister Sam Kutesa said JCCMC would run from April 2006 to July 2007, and thereafter be periodically reviewed. Expounding on the JCCMC strategy, the director of the Media Centre, Robert Kabushenga, said the Government considers the war in northern Uganda over.

JCCMC is tasked to improve security of the Internally Displaced People Camps and decongest the camps from 10,000 - 60,000 persons per camp to 1,000 - 3,000 to improve service delivery and enable them get closer to their parishes and villages, Kuteesa stated in the eight-page document.

JCCMC aims to reduce mortality rates of 378 in the camps to 0, and resettle IDPs voluntarily. It seeks to improve access to humanitarian assistance health, education, water and sanitation.

Kabushenga said the JCCMC strategy would succeed because the Police and the army would be strengthened to repel any external threat from the LRA and other forces.