---

Lord Howarth of Newport: My Lords, it is an international disgrace that the horror of northern Uganda has been allowed to persist for as long as it has. The World Health Organisation—an organisation not given to facile emotionalism—has described the situation there as a very serious humanitarian emergency, undoubtedly among the very worst in the world today, and possibly the most neglected by the international media and the relief community. It has persisted as a consequence of cynicism and incompetence in Uganda and indifference in the international community. Thousands of UN resolutions have been passed in the past 20 years but, until just the other day, none related to northern Uganda.

The disproportion of this situation is grotesque. Reliable estimates suggest that some 250 LRA guerrillas are keeping 1.2 million internally displaced people in camps and many more exiled from their homes. President Museveni has admitted that he could switch off the war. He keeps saying that he is going to do so, and keeps announcing that he has a plan. But from the record that we have seen, it is impossible to rely on him to take the action that he could other than under genuine, consistent and well co-ordinated international pressure. There is now more United Nations interest and activity, and I congratulate the Government on the part that they played in securing the passing of Resolution 1653. We look forward to the Secretary-General's report. The MONUC contingent sought to arrest the LRA leaders but, tragically, that effort was botched and the seven Guatemalan soldiers died in horrible circumstances.

Our own Government have a very special responsibility for Uganda because of our historic presence there. I hasten to say that I know that my noble friend Lord Triesman is deeply personally committed and is working hard, both bilaterally and through the United Nations, to achieve what he can on behalf of the Government. We need the Foreign Office and DfID to act together—I am not always convinced that they do—within the country. I suspect that, in the past, the Foreign Office and DfID have been too charmed by Museveni and too focused on the south. It does not belittle the achievements of the Ugandan
 
15 Mar 2006 : Column 1289
 
Government in the south to say that what has happened and what has failed to happen in the north is utterly inexcusable.

I believe that we must place a very tight conditionality on the support that we give the Government of Uganda. We must use our influence, which ought to be large because of the scale of our aid, to secure better co-ordination. In the north, there is a welter of agencies and NGOs—there are some 200 NGOs in Gulu—that are small and under-resourced, with different remits and overlapping accountabilities, and that are tripping over each other. They are staffed by committed and devoted people, but I am afraid their efforts are all too chaotic and they are much less effective than they could be. One of the important proposals of the WHO report last July was for a systematic mapping of need to lead to a rational allocation of resources and, of course, to increased resources. Will the Minister say whether that mapping has been undertaken or whether it will be undertaken?

7.57 pm

The Earl of Sandwich: My Lords, the noble Baroness and the noble Lord, Lord Howarth of Newport, ask the very serious question: why, after so many years of atrocities in the north, have we continued to sing the praises of the Government of Uganda when they have obviously failed to address the problem?

I have visited aid projects in Uganda and have met President Museveni and his wife on several occasions. I know of his firm leadership and commitment to his country's development since the dark days of Idi Amin. One of the very first countries to enter the HIPC process, Uganda is seen as a model of good governance and aid conditionality and an exact ideal of what Africa could be. Unfortunately, we are having to revise this rosy picture. It is not just the LRA; the present crisis owes something to the policies of the government, as well as to those of the rebels, creating protected villages and turning the north into a war zone. Almost its entire population is displaced, and more than 1 million women and children are still living in squalid conditions despite the UN's best efforts. The LRA has also, as we know, spread its tentacles into southern Sudan. Despite the government's offer of amnesty, the LRA has dodged every attempt of peacemakers to negotiate. Many believe that the entry of the ICC in this process last October has muddied the waters and, in the view of the Amnesty Commission, has made it even harder for sponsored initiatives, such as that of Betty Bigombe, to succeed.

The judiciary, on the other hand, has grown in stature as a result of its role leading up to the recent elections. The ICC must not come in as a deus ex machina and give any impression of an alternative system, but must complement national judicial processes wherever possible. Perhaps the UK has a role here. At last, the country is receiving more attention at an international level; the noble Baroness has already mentioned the important but belated efforts of the Security Council. Uganda was mentioned in UNSCR 1653, which at least recognised
 
15 Mar 2006 : Column 1290
 
that there was a conflict. But will the Minister press the Security Council through the Secretariat to keep Uganda on the agenda by appointing a panel of experts and perhaps a special envoy, which can be done without another resolution?

In the last moments, I shall mention an initiative in the United States. In the past two years, three young filmmakers there have raised the issue of Uganda's children through a non-profit organisation called Invisible Children. This organisation has started an education programme in the Ugandan war area, which is partly funded by a bracelet campaign that employs Ugandans. Their documentary is being screened in more than 150 cities across the United States, showing case studies such as we have heard from the noble Baroness, Lady Cox. Each screening includes a viewing of the film, a question and answer session and opportunities for ordinary people to become involved in helping the children of Uganda. It is an excellent example which could be repeated in Britain.

8 pm

Baroness Whitaker: My Lords, as young men and women increasingly flee the LRA, which conscripted them so brutally, as the noble Baroness, Lady Northover, and others have said most eloquently, there is another aspect of the conflict to be resolved—their reintegration. Apart from reconciliation—which is astonishingly well handled by the Acholi people and the Amnesty Commission under Justice Onega—there is, or should be, work, the great reintegrator.

My right honourable friend Hilary Benn has quite rightly cut our direct budget support to the Government of Uganda because of concerns about the democratic process under Mr Museveni's rule. But these funds will not leave Uganda; they will go—just over £20 million—directly towards the humanitarian relief effort in northern Uganda. A major element of that humanitarian effort must also be to rehabilitate those young men and women who lost their childhood in the wastes of the Sudanese training grounds provided to the LRA by the Sudanese Government.

At a receiving camp for surrendered soldiers supported by UNICEF, which is one of the great forces for good in the north—I should declare an interest as a trustee of the UK committee—I spoke to Joseph, 18, whose two siblings died from cholera when they were all abducted into the LRA, who had limped with his untreated wounds for five hours through the forest to give the LRA the slip, and who then spent six months in hospital. He has the height of a 13 year-old.

All Joseph had been offered was enlistment in the national army. It would have been better for him to have moved entirely away from fighting and slaughter. The Ugandan Government are not thought to have given much priority to vocational and technical education, preferring, like some others, so-called prestigious academic qualifications. But modern agriculture, food processing and local services would be of far more use to these communities and could be the lifeblood of these thousands of children's return to
 
15 Mar 2006 : Column 1291
 
normality. Perhaps I may ask my noble friend, whether DfID's humanitarian assistance and what it can muster from the international community also includes support for specialised mental healthcare for these traumatised young people and vocational education and skills training.

8.03 pm

Lord St John of Bletso: My Lords, I join in thanking the noble Baroness, Lady Northover, for initiating this short debate. It is impossible to do justice to this big subject in just three minutes.

We have heard today—particularly from my noble friend Lady Cox—about the appalling continuing atrocities of the LRA, which has for the past 19 years waged a brutal war against the Government of Uganda, carrying out horrific attacks on villages and squatter camps for the hundreds of thousands of displaced people, particularly the young people. The LRA has said that it wishes to govern the country according to the Ten Commandments. Sadly, it has completely ignored the first commandment—thou shalt not kill—and embarked on a reign of terror, often against the Acholi people whom it claims to represent. The figures vary but I understand that more than 1.6 million people are living in the most desperate conditions, fearing the LRA and still not trusting the government.

So what can be done? I believe that we must continue to support the government of President Museveni in their continuing campaign to overcome the LRA, either by force or through negotiations. The recent multiparty election was certainly not a shining example of democracy in action and the continuing treatment of the opposition leader remains a cause for grave concern. I support and understand why Britain has attached conditions on aid, but Museveni's record also shows some remarkable achievements on economic growth, poverty reduction and the prevalence of AIDS. The president has declared his determination to bring peace to the north by committing troops and also engaging in reconciliatory talks. But actions speak louder than words, and several noble Lords have been critical—rightly so—about his lack of action.

Our Government have actively supported Museveni's pursuit of peace. We have also supported a broad variety of welfare programmes in the region, including the Ugandan Amnesty Commission and MEGA FM, a local radio station promoting peace. I am sure the Minister, when winding up, will elaborate on our support for the various peace initiatives.

Her Majesty's Government have also been a strong ally of the moves to bring the five LRA leaders to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. I trust that that support is being pursued in an energetic and effective manner. I wholeheartedly support the "Break the silence" campaign initiated and co-ordinated by the Church Mission Society in Britain. This campaign has amplified the Northern Uganda Church's appeal for help and certainly dispelled some of the spiritual fear.
 
15 Mar 2006 : Column 1292
 

Of course, more can always be done. In all this activity it should be recognised that this is not just a national Ugandan problem; it is a crisis for the region. The problems in northern Uganda threaten the fragile peace process being pursued in southern Sudan. It is alarming that insurgents from northern Uganda are crossing the border and creating instability in the neighbouring state.

I believe that a lasting solution to the problems in northern Uganda will be achieved only by a policy co-ordinated by the international community and the respective Governments of Uganda, Sudan and, indeed, Rwanda. Certainly the international community appears to recognise that the conflicts in the Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes Region are all directly or indirectly connected and that nothing less than a broader regional solution will bring lasting peace and stability to this part of Africa.

8.06 pm

---