Northern Uganda – from a forgotten war to an unforgivable crisis – the war against children

This 2005 briefing describes the insurgency in northern Uganda as a 'war against children,' highlighting the LRA's systematic abduction of youth and the resulting displacement of over 1.6 million people into squalid 'protected villages.' It critiques the Ugandan government's military failures, including Operation Iron Fist I, and discusses the complex regional involvement of Sudan. The report emphasizes the collapse of health and education services in the north and the challenges of achieving peace through the International Criminal Court's warrants and local amnesty processes.

• The conflict in northern Uganda is characterized as a 'war against children,' with the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) utilizing child abduction as a primary military strategy. Over 20,000 children have been abducted since the conflict began, with 10,000 of those abductions occurring in 2003 alone. This has led to the phenomenon of 'night commuting,' where children from camps in Gulu, Kitgum, and Kalongo travel to towns at night to avoid abduction.
• The Ugandan government's counter-insurgency strategy involved forcing rural populations in Acholiland into 'protected villages' by 1996. These settlements, described as 'camps,' often lacked effective protection from the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF), making them easy targets for LRA attacks and abductions. By June 2005, the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) reached approximately 1.6 million, with over 90 percent of the population in Acholi districts affected.
• Operation Iron Fist I, launched in March 2002, involved over 10,000 Ugandan troops entering Sudanese soil to destroy LRA bases. Rather than ending the war, the operation pushed LRA combatants back into northern Uganda, resulting in increased violence against civilians and massive new internal displacement. The LRA subsequently expanded operations into the Lango and Teso regions in 2003.

APA

Ruaudel, H., & Timpson, A. (2005). Northern Uganda – from a forgotten war to an unforgivable crisis – the war against children. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/051212UGANDA.PDF

Chicago

Ruaudel, Héloïse, and Andrew Timpson. Northern Uganda – from a forgotten war to an unforgivable crisis – the war against children. Institute for Security Studies, 2005. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/051212UGANDA.PDF.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Ruaudel |first1=Héloïse |last2=Timpson |first2=Andrew |title=Northern Uganda – from a forgotten war to an unforgivable crisis – the war against children |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=12 December 2005 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/051212UGANDA.PDF |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ruaudel2005northern, author = {Ruaudel, Héloïse and Timpson, Andrew}, title = {{Northern Uganda – from a forgotten war to an unforgivable crisis – the war against children}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2005}, month = dec, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/051212UGANDA.PDF}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }