U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
_______________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release November 12, 2004

Statement by Richard Boucher, Spokesman

Uganda: North Uganda and the LRA

The United States is greatly concerned by the on-going humanitarian crisis in northern Uganda which is resulting from the actions of the Lord ' s Resistance Army (LRA). We continue to work closely with the Ugandan government, other governments and international agencies to alleviate the suffering, and to bring the brutal rebellion by the LRA and its leader Joseph Kony to a swift and permanent end. We have urged the Ugandan government to redouble its efforts to protect the children and unarmed local population of Uganda.

The United States is one of the principal sources of humanitarian assistance for victims of LRA attacks, especially the 1.4 million people internally displaced in northern Uganda. President Bush signed the Northern Uganda Crisis Response Act on August 2, 2004. The Act calls for a report to Congress next February detailing the causes of the conflict and the sources of support for the LRA.

The United States provides well over fifty percent of total World Food Program (WFP) assistance in Uganda, including a contribution of $62 million in FY 2004. The WFP has carried out a massive feeding program for internally displaced persons in northern and eastern Uganda over the last two years. We have also provided over $13 million to support the reintegration of former child soldiers and formerly abducted persons, and to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS in conflicted-affected regions. Additionally, the United States has provided nearly $4 million in emergency non-food humanitarian assistance for fiscal year 2003, and almost $9.0 million in such assistance for fiscal year 2004. The assistance is channeled through NGO ' s, United Nations agencies, the Uganda Red Cross to assist internally displaced persons (IDP 's) in the north.