OCHA Situation Report
Volume VI, Issue X
Uganda
Report for October 2004
9 November 2004


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

I. SECURITY
SECURITY OVERVIEW

Despite reports of Joseph Kony's re-entry into Uganda from Sudan at the 
beginning of October, the month registered relative calm for most parts of 
the districts of Gulu, Kitgum and Pader. The UPDF reportedly thwarted 
attempts by Joseph Kony to meet his commanders in northern Uganda and this 
is said to have curbed the chaos his re-entry into northern Uganda could 
have caused. In Lira, the month saw a further reduction in LRA incidents 
reported and no major LRA attacks on camps or towns, though reports of LRA 
sightings continued, particularly in the northern parts of the district 
that border Pader District.  In Teso region (Soroti, Katakwi and 
Kaberamaido), October marked the six-month of calm and a growing feeling 
that the LRA has indeed faded away. However, the region is now grappling 
with problems left by the LRA, especially as it tries to assist the IDPs 
returning to their homes of origin.

DISTRICT SECURITY UPDATE

Gulu - Heavy UPDF deployment and bombardments were reported in the Kilak 
hills, around the Atiak areas where Kony was said to have relocated for 
the first half of October. Kony reportedly moved into Kitgum district in 
mid-October. Heavy bombardments were also reported at the Atoo hills, 
along the Opit-Lalogi- and Acet areas, where Commander Dominic Ongwen is 
reportedly operating. This same group has reportedly been active in the 
northern sub-counties of Apac districts, especially Ngai, where attempted 
attacks were foiled by the UPDF. In the second half of October, there were 
reports of LRA concentration in Amuru, about 56Kms west of Gulu town. The 
Koch Goma/Ongako areas also reported rebel concentrations during the 
month, with some incidences of abductions.  October saw yet fewer reports 
of LRA surrendering to the UPDF than in previous months. A wife of LRA 
Commander Vincent Otti, (with four fighters who surrendered in Amuru), was 
among the few cases of surrender reported during the month. Reports of LRA 
rebels harvesting IDP crops in the night, and incidences of farmers being 
killed while tending their gardens continued in October. Over the past two 
months, the attention of the LRA seems to have shifted from abductions to 
food collection/looting. Furthermore a new strategy by the LRA is to 
operate in civilian clothes, in order to evade the UPDF. They are reported 
to be more active in the early and later hours of the day. There were also 
incidences of LRA looting or ambushing vehicles for civilian clothes in 
the earlier part of the month. These security incidents keep the situation 
fluid and IDPs in camps

Kitgum and Pader - There has been significant improvement in security in 
Kitgum and Pader in October, evidenced by a marked reduction in LRA 
ambushes and attacks on camps and abductions compared to the previous two 
months. There has also been a marked reduction in the number of rebels 
surrendering. Additionally, there are strong beliefs that top LRA 
commanders including Joseph Kony and splinter groups of about five to ten 
LRA elements have been cornered by vigorous UPDF ground and air assaults 
in areas northwest of Kitgum, notably, Paloga, Potika, Agoro and Palabek. 
These rebels are mobile and have carried out intermittent ambushes in 
these areas, leaving a number of deaths and injured. They have looted IDP 
crops and animals and engaged the UPDF in skirmishes.  In the east of 
Kitgum, a group of about 30 LRA were sighted along the route further up to 
Pader district. Incidents by this group have left two people dead in Madi 
Opei. Meanwhile, the UPDF in Kitgum has set up a number of small detaches 
and increased the foot patrols to boost the security in the district

Teso region registered no LRA attacks or incidents in October. Parts of 
Katakwi district, bordering with Karamoja, continued to experience 
periodic raids from the Karimojong, keeping a good number of IDPs in 
camps.

In Lira, October registered no major LRA attacks on camps or towns, though 
a few Karimojong raids were reported. The number of incidents reported 
continues to fall but reports of LRA crossings and sightings were still 
received through the month

II. IDP, REFUGEE MOVEMENT AND CAMP ISSUES

Gulu: Night commuter figures within the municipality increased from about 
18,822 in early September, to 22,010 in the second week of October, 
following the sense of fear caused by Kony's re-entry into Uganda early in 
the month. The number dropped to 21,067 by the end of October. Night 
commuters, both children and adults were reported in Opit camp, and Lalogi 
health centre in Lalogi camp, because of the poor security situation in 
these areas. Pabbo and Bobi camps had in July and August reported the 
presence of night commuters, but an assessment in October found no night 
commuters were registered. The areas seemed to be relatively peaceful. 
WFP have noticed a small increase in numbers in camps such as Unyama. 
These newcomers included people from Pader district.

Kitgum and Pader: An August 2004 inter-agency head count of night 
commuters put the figures at 18,058 in Kitgum and 6,321 in Pader 
(Kalongo).  A head count is planned in Kitgum in the coming weeks.

In Teso sub-region, IDP movements have not changed much from September. In 
Soroti, IDPs are still in the municipality camps. Those from Soroti 
sub-counties are moving to their home sub- counties to prepare their homes 
and cultivate. In Kaberemaido, there is gradual return to homes for IDPs 
from the central sub-counties of the district. But IDPs from the extreme 
ends bordering Lira (Anyara sub-county) are still in camps and are not 
prepared to return soon due to the precarious situation. In Katakwi, the 
IDPs from areas bordering Karamoja and Lira are also still in camps in 
larger numbers than the other two districts. However, IDPs from 
sub-counties bordering Soroti (Wera) have started returning home.

Lira still has a steady movement of IDPs to the rural camps as reported 
last month. The camp administration in rural areas have been advised to 
set up new blocks for the returning families for easy registration and 
monitoring of trends in population changes in the camps, especially for 
food distribution. Hopefully this will ease the registration by camp 
leaders in the camps. However, the movement to rural areas may not result 
in automatic decongestion of the urban camps because the returning 
families still maintain their homes in the urban camps where they leave 
some members of their families.

Moyo: UNHCR has registered just over 2,000 Sudanese who have entered Moyo 
District mainly from South Sudan in the past month. This is a substantial 
jump in new refugee numbers for the region and can be attributed mainly to 
an escalation in raiding by the LRA in the areas bordering Moyo District. 
Many of the refugees are women and children of SPLA soldiers who are 
crossing to be safe. Other factors for their flight into Uganda can be 
attributed to lack of food in South Sudan due to a prolonged dry season 
and continued deterioration for the hopes for a speedily signed peace deal 
between the SPLM and Khartoum. Also, some Sudanese refugees registered 
with UNHCR in the neighboring district of Adjumani are crossing the Nile 
River to the relative safety of Moyo as there are threats of LRA attacks 
in south and eastern Adjumani. UNHCR expects that refugee arrival numbers 
will increase over the coming months which will put an obvious damper on 
the agency's plans to begin the process of voluntary repatriation of 
Sudanese back to South Sudan.

III. ACCESS ISSUES

Gulu - Access to the IDP camps by humanitarian agencies continued to 
improve during the month for most locations, as security appeared more 
stable. Agencies have been more cautious about movement to the more 
insecure Opit-Lalogi-Awere belt to the east of Gulu town; and the Amuru 
areas, south west of Gulu town as several rebel crossings and 
concentrations were reported there during the month. The UPDF denied 
security clearance to NGOs to Amuru unless with heavy military escorts. An 
inter-agency assessment team for the former unassisted camps could not 
visit Omee 1 and Omee 2 in Amuru because military equipment could not be 
secured to escort the team.

Two UNICEF armoured vehicles for humanitarian work have been placed in the 
district. A UNICEF logistician is managing the programme, which will cover 
both Gulu and Kitgum districts. Two training events co-facilitated by 
UNSECOORD/UNICEF, for district and NGOs/UN agency staff for the 
use/operations of the vehicles were conducted during the month.  The 
armoured vehicles are expected to ease access to the more insecure areas 
that have not previously been reached as frequently by humanitarian 
actors.

Kitgum - Amidst different approaches to the use of military escorts, 
agencies in Kitgum met on 26 October and agreed to provide water and 
biscuits as lunch instead of cash to troops assigned on escorts. As a 
result, soldiers who were availed water and biscuits, whilst others were 
receiving cash, reportedly exhibited indiscipline. Agencies were urged to 
report indiscipline by soldiers on convoys to the nearest military detach. 
Agencies also agreed upon a common procedure for requesting military 
escort, which includes the submission of a monthly work plan to the 
relevant brigade officer. The performance of the new system will be 
monitored at weekly coordination meetings.

In Lira, particularly Otuke county which borders Pader, access is not only 
hindered by LRA, but is further complicated by Karimojong raids.

In Teso region there is no use of military escorts in the three districts.

IV. HUMANITARIAN SITUATION AND ASSISTANCE

Pabbo IDP camp, the largest in Gulu district and home to an estimated 
62,000-65,000 IDPs is a camp with recurring humanitarian problems, ranging 
from fire, disease outbreaks to storm ravages, depending on the season. 
October saw a cholera out break that has since claimed three lives and a 
storm that destroyed an estimated 5500 huts

Storm update as of 5 November 2004: An assessment by NRC, CARE, UNICEF, 
World Vision, and the Probation and Welfare Office as well as student 
volunteers had the following findings:

5,516 huts were damaged in the 24 October storm; all zones in the camp 
were affected, the worst damage being in Zones C, FA, FB, E and D. These 
are the very zones, that suffered extensive fire damage earlier this year. 
Zone C is also the main zone for the cholera outbreak. Pabbo , Abera, 
Lalem, Otong and Palwong Primary 7 schools suffered various degrees of 
damage to both buildings and scholastic materials.

The response by various humanitarian agencies to the identified priorities 
is as follows:

- NRC distributed NFIs (tarpaulins, used clothes, blankets, soap and 
jerrycans) to 5486 households between 29 October and 1 November.

- UNICEF provided 11,302 blankets, 11,032 jerrycans, 37 bales of used 
clothes and 3964 tarpaulins, which NRC distributed

- WFP completed a full food distribution to all of Pabbo camp on 1st and 
2nd November.

- SCF have undertaken an exercise book distribution to the damaged schools 
in Pabbo

FAO

Undertook crop assessment damage on the 1st and 2nd November. The storm 
caused extensive damage to the fields in a 3km radius of Pabbo.

Broad leaf crops were mainly damaged, particularly maize, simsim and 
sorghum as well as beans. The maize harvest might have suffered a 50 % 
loss. A similar loss could affect the bean harvest. Ground crops such as 
groundnuts, sweet and Irish potatoes and cassava have not suffered 
extensive damage - nor has the rice crop.

There is some fear that continuing waterlogging may harm the bean harvest.

Cholera update as of 5 November 2004

Since the first cholera cases were confirmed in early October, the 
cumulative figure now stands at 93. The cases are now being reported from 
all parts of the camp. Three people have died so far.

ACF found that 2 out 16 household samples of water were heavily 
contaminated by feacal material, even though the water source was clean.

Furthermore, there are 5-6 unprotected springs that are contaminated and 
are still in use.

One case in Amuru camp has been confirmed. The DDHS has already started an 
isolation unit there along with hand washing facilities.

There is a suspected case in Pece in Gulu Town

There is also a possible case in Orum in Kitgum.

UNICEF have agreed to finance a surveillance programme in 8 camps.

A small WHO survey undertaken on the 4th November showed an alarming level 
of ignorance about what causes cholera in Pabbo camp. 66% of the 
respondents thought cholera was caused by dirty compounds and flies - not 
by contaminated water or food. 2 new latrines,which had been constructed, 
have hit the water table thereby threatening more contamination.

Health education efforts will need to be improved, with one suggestion of 
evening films at the camp. Many adults in the camp are in the fields for 
most of the day and are missing out of health education.

Not enough health staff are receiving financial motivation payments, so 
morale is beginning to wane.

MSF/Swiss opened their Cholera Treatment Centre on 1 November 2004 and 
recruited 80 people to manage it.

UNICEF provided 50,000 sachets of oral rehydration salt (ORS), water 
purification granules, and NFIs (soap, jerrycans, basins, blankets, 
antiseptic solution).

The District Water Officer (DWO) has stated that the sources of 
contamination - latrines near to the water points - will be chlorinated 
and then destroyed.

GENERAL FOOD SECURITY SITUATION

Gulu - October continued to register a good rainfall pattern. The main 
agricultural activities have been harvesting of crops (beans, maize, rice, 
potatoes, and vegetables-cabbage, tomatoes, okra, boo, egg plants). 
Unfortunately there were also many reported incidences of LRA harvesting 
the crops in the night, and killing IDPs in their gardens. This limited 
the farmers from accessing their land. The 24 October storm caused 
significant food and crop loss in Pabbo and the surrounding gardens and 
fields. FAO have been asked to undertake a quick assessment of the damage.

In Lira only FAO and the district are implementing food security 
programmes and this poses a challenge to coordination in this sector. Most 
of the NGOs are only distributing FAO kits and do not have specific food 
security programmes. A discussion is ongoing with FAO representatives in 
Gulu, (also responsible for Lira) to take the lead in co-chairing and 
mobilisation of the sector, supported by OCHA. This will improve the 
coordination in terms of technical direction and focus of the sector.

Meanwhile, also in Lira, the second season rains, though less than 
expected, have been more reliable than last season. It has also been 
observed that access to farms was better and cultivation was done. 
However, in the rural areas, more cash crops especially sunflower and 
cotton have been planted. Food crops planted include sweet potatoes, 
beans, cowpeas, etc.  In the rural areas there is still some reserve of 
cassava, which the IDPs are accessing. The camps have limited access to 
markets within their areas, which have a limited variety of food 
commodities. Charcoal selling as a source of income is predominant - 
prices range from 4500 to 5000 per bag (or more if brought to Lira town). 
There is need to explore and support other forms of livelihood for the 
IDPs now that there is relative calm and some resettlement is taking 
place.

Food Aid

Kitgum - In a bid to resolve food related problems amongst IDPs, WFP has 
begun identifying and incorporating into the food distribution system IDPs 
who have missed food over the last four months. NRC, WFP's partner agency, 
says about 1,000 new IDP households (5,000 IDPs) have already been issued 
ration cards since WFP began its October round of food distribution. At 
the close of the exercise, over 12,000 IDPs are expected to be covered, 
suggesting an increase of about five percent of the total WFP general food 
distribution caseload. However, 2400 households that have not claimed 
ration cards, even after names have been called four times and this will 
therefore be deleted if the ration cards are claimed. The population WFP 
is feeding in Kitgum now stands at 267,078 and may not actually increase 
after the exercise. WFP and the district also agreed to work together to 
weed out ghost names from beneficiary lists. The decision to incorporate 
the IDPs came following a meeting between the Kitgum district officials, 
the Minister of State for Disaster Preparedness, senior WFP officials and 
other stakeholders.

In Lira, food aid distribution in rural areas now includes a ration of 
CSB. The new food basket is distributed at 25% and 50%, depending on the 
location of the camps. However, there is need for an assessment to 
validate the existing rations since the production from the first season 
was below expected levels and current season crop is still in the gardens.

In addition to food aid, WFP distributed cowpeas and boo seeds, which are 
all year round vegetable crops, to all IDP households in Lira (rural 
camps), Gulu, Kitgum and Pader.

Agricultural Aid

Teso - In Teso, War on Want (Northern Ireland programme) distributed 
cassava cuttings in Morungatuny and Orungo sub-counties in Katakwi 
District, benefiting 476 households.  Sorghum was also distributed in 
Akeriau Parish in Orungo sub-county, benefiting 200 households. Meanwhile, 
FAO provided the NGO, SOCADIDO with agricultural kits targeting a 
population of 14,900 households in Katakwi, Soroti (Gweri sub county) and 
Kumi.

PUBLIC HEALTH AND NUTRITION

Gulu - Coordination meetings for the cholera outbreak in Pabbo camp 
dominated this sector in October. Meetings were held thrice weekly since 
the outbreak. Co-ordination has been very effective, and the interventions 
have been good with nearly all stakeholders involved (MOH, UN, NGOs, DDHS, 
Lacor Hospital, and DWO, etc).

A new HIV working group has been formed, with ACORD as co-chair and the 
DDHS as chair. It was agreed that an increased focus was required on HIV 
management in the IDP camps. The new group is yet to meet because it has 
been preoccupied with coordinating the control of the cholera outbreak in 
Pabbo.

Kitgum and Pader - Currently, malaria accounts for the highest under fives 
mortality rate in Kitgum and Pader districts. In a bid to reduce the high 
mortality rate and improve health care delivery, MSF-H plans to establish 
fever/malaria clinics this year in Padibe and Lokung (Kitgum) for children 
and women. It has a similar clinic in Atanga, Pader District. In a 
somewhat related plan for 2005, ICRC has commenced a Knowledge, Attitude 
and Practice (KAP) survey in five camps in Kitgum district, looking at the 
use of mosquito nets. AMREF, also visited the district recently to begin 
preparation for intervention in the areas of EPI and curative health. 
Meanwhile, AVSI, has agreed to supply drugs to health centres previously 
assisted by IRC until the latter can replenish its drug stock and resume 
its supply to the health centres.

The Uganda HIV/AIDS Control Project under the Uganda AIDS Commission 
released a HIV/AIDS survey report on Kitgum District in early October. It 
indicated, amongst others, that people had little knowledge about the 
signs and symptoms of STDs, including HIV/AIDS. The current HIV/AIDS 
prevalence rate in the district is reported to be 8.9 percent compared to 
the national rate of 6 percent. The survey was conducted by HIV/AIDS 
sector NGOs and the DDHS and funded by the World Bank. The report is 
available with Uganda Aids Control Project.

To upgrade the performance of EPI in Kitgum, UNICEF facilitated the 
training of 143 community vaccinators to administer vaccine to about 
60,000 children and de-worm 130,000 in 18 camps.

Lira - The number of severely malnourished children in MSF run therapeutic 
feeding centres (TFCs) in Lira remains static at around 275 children. The 
weekly number of admissions and discharges is roughly equal at 65 per 
week. There is a low rate of re-admissions, with complaints of lack of 
food in their homes. Increasing numbers of new admissions are coming from 
Apac district especially Alito, Otwal, Akalo and Kamdini. There were 15 
new admissions in the last week of October, which is 25% of the total 
admissions. The admissions from the rural camps remain at between 1 to 3 
children per camp. MSF have noted an increase in the number of caretakers 
which is probably due to the mothers not wanting to leave children in the 
care of husbands or siblings who are not mature enough to care for younger 
children. District Health personnel continue to return to the rural 
clinics but issues of housing and sanitation are still a barrier to 
complete return. The DDHS have agreed for NGOs to provide supplementary 
information to the District Health personnel who have not returned to 
their rural clinics.

Teso - Med Air has been conducting mobile clinics, consultancy and, 
dispensary services in Katakwi District. This is done with the aim of 
capacity building and strengthening existing health services by the 
organization in Acowa, Morungatuny and Obalanga sub counties. A population 
of 60,600 people has been served. Basic health and hygiene messages, 
malaria prevention have been done in Abarilela, Acowa, Komolo, Morungatuny 
Sub Counties. 60,000 people have benefited.

WATER AND SANITATION

Teso - The National Water and Sewerage Co-operation turned off the water 
supply to IDPs living in Soroti Municipality on 4th and 5th October 2004, 
because the water bill has accumulated to over Shs 70 million. The DDMC 
wrote to OPM about the bills, but there is no official response to date. 
However, according to the Commissioner for Disaster Preparedness, 
Government had decided that no water would be turned off from IDP camps, 
regardless of whether the bills have been paid or not. In the meantime, 
Concern Worldwide negotiated with national Water and Sewerage Cooperation, 
Soroti to reconnect water to 13 selected IDP centres in order to avoid 
immediate health crisis. NWSC responded positively but insisted that if 
the bill was not settled, water services would be disconnected permanently 
from October 31st 2004.  There is also an outcry for water in rural areas 
where IDPs have returned. The water sector working group has noted with 
concern that the resettlement plan for Teso region was developed with a 
focus on the production sector at the expense of all other sectors.

EDUCATION

The WFP pilot School Feeding Programme has been launched in Teso 
sub-region. The programme, which started in October and ends in December 
2004, is implemented by WFP, the District Local Governments and the Basic 
Support Education Programme. In Soroti, 12 schools have been identified 
for the pilot programme, five in Kaberamaido and 10 in Katakwi.  The 
districts, among other responsibilities are to provide services for 
monitoring the storage of food commodities in the schools and usage of WFP 
supplied items, ensure that schools maintain updated registers of 
enrolment and attendance, ensure hygienic and safe storage of food 
commodities. Basic Support Education Programme, is the second partner and 
will cooperate with the districts and WFP to provide non-food items 
(cooking pans-54, plates-10316, cups-10156, jerry cans-210, water tanks-27 
and buckets-210) for implementation of school feeding programme in the 
selected schools.

The schools have been informed of the need to design mechanisms for 
ensuring sustainability of this programme through schools producing their 
own food using the school gardens. WFP has pledged to provide seeds to 
kick-start the programme.

HUMAN RIGHTS AND PROTECTION

International Criminal Court - the Protection Working Group (PWG) in Gulu 
is highly concerned about the protection of witnesses and the 
confidentiality of their statements in their interviews with the ICC. The 
Witness Protection Unit of the ICC is well aware of the difficulties.

Cases of rape and defilement are being reported on a regular basis to 
agencies such as HURIFO in Gulu. However, many of the victims are 
reluctant to go ahead with further legal action for fear of further 
violence, from the perpetrators. Also in Teso region, the Civil Military 
Operation Centres have registered cases of sexual violence, defilement, 
and domestic violence in military detaches as well as camps located near 
military detachments

'Forced labour'

In Gulu, incidents of people being forced by the UPDF to slash roadsides, 
are still reported. However, most PWG members feel that there has been a 
significant reduction along the Gulu-Kampala and Gulu-Kitgum roads. The 
Gulu UPDF Civil-Military Officer has been very active in meeting with the 
local UPDF commanders to get the practice stopped. While, the Gulu UPDF 
asserts that grass-cutting should continue in order to minimise road 
ambushes, the Gulu UPDF Civil-Military Officer is stressing the need for 
the army to negotiate with camp leaders to solicit the voluntary support 
of the community. Despite this progress, HURIFO have gone ahead with two 
court cases on forced labour in order to get a civil judgement on this 
illegal practice. The cases will be heard in early November at the Gulu 
Magistrates Court.

Repatriation and resettlement of ex-LRA

Gulu - The apparent lack of re-integration and demobilisation of ex-LRA 
soldiers is a cause for concern for PWG members.  Furthermore, the planned 
expansion of Labora Farm is causing fear of possible land grabbing among 
landlords neighbouring the farm.

Gulu, Kitgum, Pader - UNICEF sponsored the airlifting of 19 formerly 
abducted children (FAC) from World Vision Gulu to Kitgum Town, and 5 from 
Kitgum Town to Gulu, for reunification with their families.  It also 
sponsored the airlifting of 56 formerly abducted children (FAC)  from 
World Vision Gulu to Pader Town, and 11 to Kalongo, for reunification with 
their families.  All the children have been reunified with their families.

Pader - World Vision completed the construction of a new reception centre 
in Kalongo, Agago County with the capacity to host 60 children and adults 
per month.  This centre will allow child protection agencies to stop the 
long stay of abducted children who are rescued or surrender within the 
military bases.  Over 150 abducted children report to the military in 
Kalongo per month. 36 formerly abducted children passed through the CPU in 
Kalongo during October.

Kitgum - In the wake of a relatively steady wave of reporting of former 
abductees (FAs), NGOs operating reception centres appear to be faced with 
uphill challenges in the process of catering for their wellbeing. CPA and 
KICWA, that are local NGOs, find it difficult to follow-up to ascertain 
returnees' coping strategies after reintegration because of security and 
financial constraints. CPA noted that returnees, especially child mothers, 
who had been reintegrated, return to the centre to request for food 
assistance after depleting food provided by WFP in the reintegration 
package. The agency says it is further constrained by the lack of 
resources to create income generating opportunities for returnees to be 
able to sustain themselves in the communities. Several returnees take 
prolonged periods of time before being incorporated into the regular food 
aid system. CPA currently has 30 adults, including child mothers at the 
centre compared to 44 last September, and an average of ten former 
abductees (FAS) report to the centre weekly, a slight decrease from 15 
reporters a week about three months back. Weekly reporting at the KICWA 
centre for formerly abducted children has remained at an average of 20 
children for the last three months. UNICEF continues its support to the 
two reception centres.

On the issue of possible recruitment, UNICEF Kitgum has begun holding 
consultative discussions with relevant security authorities and local 
government officials in Pader and Kitgum to discourage further recruitment 
of children, and encourage adherence to the Convention on the Rights of 
the Child (CRC), in addition to ensuring a durable process of 
demobilisation of child soldiers. Discussions regarding the situation of 
child soldiers were held with security authorities in Achol Pii and 
Kalongo IDP camps in Pader district.

In Lira, CCF trained four Protection and Well-being Committees (PWCs) in 
Bala Stock Farm, Starch Factory, Erute, and PAG/PCU IDPs camps. These 
committees will deal with protection, gender and advocacy in the camps. 
Camp Security Committees (CSC) are expected to be trained next month and 
will be linked to the district administration and police for purposes of 
reporting issues from the PWCs.

Following problems with militiamen in the district, Camp Security 
Committees will implement block-by-block by-laws, based on the IDP policy, 
Military Code of Conduct and other relevant statutes. A phenomenon like 
drunkenness increases domestic violence, but the sensitisation programmes 
in the camps resulted in behaviour change especially in regards to alcohol 
abuse.

The child protection sector working groups (SWG) in the three Districts of 
Soroti, Katakwi and Kaberamaido have met on several issues of childcare 
and protection. In regard to Child Care Centres tending to 
institutionalize children, a Child Protection SWG resolved that resolved 
that policy on Child Care is clear in the Legal Framework and therefore 
NGOs supporting children should not institutionalize children. The Soroti 
Probation Officer has been tasked to ensure that this resolution is 
adhered to. The SWG also resolved that all agencies work towards ensuring 
that children are re-unified with their families or relatives.  The 
process of re-uniting children with their families went on smoothly in 
October.

The Probation Office in Soroti in collaboration with the Police has 
identified some six juvenile delinquents in Soroti municipality. The 
children aged 13 -15 years, have been put in a reformatory school. Since 
the beginning of the insurgency, it is now common to find children hanging 
in streets as destitute.

Mental Health Consortium, a new NGO has joined the humanitarian actors in 
Soroti to provide psychosocial support to persons affected by LRA 
insurgency. The organisation trains teachers on how to handle children 
with mental health problems. They work in collaboration with with TPO, 
Education and Health Departments.

V MISSIONS AND VISITS

The major missions to the conflict-affected districts included the 
following:

Uganda Amnesty Commission conducted a one-day sensitisation workshop in 
Lira, targeting district officials from Lira and Apac. The workshop 
highlighted protection and abuse of human rights in the conflict area in 
northern Uganda, including by the UPDF, role of the UPDF in finding a 
solution to the northern conflict, role of rehabilitation centres in the 
conflict, the relationship between the ICC and the Amnesty commission, the 
challenges and successes of the commission and role of the communities and 
local leaders in promoting the work of the commission.

BBC teams visited Gulu three times during the month.

An IRIN journalist from Nairobi visited Gulu and Kitgim to follow up on 
the OCHA book "When the Sun Sets, We Start to Worry" A second edition of 
the book is expected to be published by mid-November to coincide with the 
launch of CAP 2005 in Kampala.

A small team from the British NGO Mines Awareness Trust visited OCHA, AVSI 
and CPAR to discuss the need for further mines education programmes in 
northern Uganda to ensure that any recovery programmes included mine 
awareness as part of any return programme.



Affected Populations

|--------------+--------------------+----------+-------|
|   District   | Beneficiary Type   | Sept/Oct | Trend |
|              |                    |    04    |       |
|--------------+--------------------+----------+-------|
| Adjumani     | Refugees (Su)      |    62,393|   up  |
|--------------+--------------------+----------+-------|
| Arua         | Refugees           |          |       |
|              | - Imvepi (Su)      |    23,691|  same |
|              | - Rhino Camp (Su,  |    26,637|  same |
|              | DRC, Br)           |     7,468|  same |
|              | - Madi Okollo      |          |       |
|--------------+--------------------+----------+-------|
| Yumbe        |- Ikafe             |     9,660| same  |
|--------------+--------------------+----------+-------|
| Gulu         | IDPs               |   447,696|   up  |
|--------------+--------------------+----------+-------|
| Hoima        | Refugees (DRC, Su, |          |  same |
|              | Ky, Br)            |    17,930|       |
|              | - Kyangwali        |          |       |
|--------------+--------------------+----------+-------|
| Kabarole     | Refugees           |          |  same |
|              | - Kyaka II (DRC)   |     7,951|       |
|--------------+--------------------+----------+-------|
| Katakwi      |  IDPs              |         0|   --  |
| Soroti       |  IDPs              |         0|   --  |
| Kaberamaido  |  IDPs              |          |  same |
|              |                    |    97,561|       |
|--------------+--------------------+----------+-------|
| Kitgum       | IDPs               |   267,078|  same |
| Pader        | IDPs               |   279,589|  same |
|--------------+--------------------+----------+-------|
| Lira rural   | IDPs               |   215,361|   up  |
| camps        | IDPs               |    81,857|  same |
| Lira         |                    |          |       |
| municipality |                    |          |       |
|--------------+--------------------+----------+-------|
| Mbarara      | Refugees           |          |       |
|              | - Oruchinga (Rw)   |     3,948|  same |
|              | - Nakivale (Rw,    |    15,705|  same |
|              | DRC others)        |          |       |
|--------------+--------------------+----------+-------|
| Masindi      | Refugees           |          |       |
|              | - Kiryandongo (Su) |    15,066|  same |
|--------------+--------------------+----------+-------|
| Moroto,      | Drought Affected   |   125,000|   up  |
| Kotido       |                    |          |       |
| Nakapiripirit|                    |          |       |
|--------------+--------------------+----------+-------|
| Moyo         | Refugees (Su)      |          |   up  |
|              | - Palorinya        |    35,129|       |
|              |                    |          |       |
|--------------+--------------------+----------+-------|
| Urban areas  | Refugees (mix)     |    -     |   -   |
|--------------+--------------------+----------+-------|
| Total        |                    |   255,574|   up  |
| Refugees     |                    |          |       |
|--------------+--------------------+----------+-------|
|Total IDPs    |                    | 1,367,301|  down |
|--------------+--------------------+----------+-------|
|Total Drought |                    |   125,000|  same |
|Affected      |                    |          |       |
|--------------+--------------------+----------+-------|
| Total        |                    | 1,747,875|   up  |
|--------------+--------------------+----------+-------|


Affected population figures are of variable accuracy due to rapidly 
changing situation as well as the varying quality of information sources. 
Inclusion in this list does not necessarily indicate the population is 
receiving humanitarian assistance. Note too that IDP camp populations 
reflect the population assisted by WFP (does not include unassisted 
population figures). Abbrev. are Sudanese (Su), Democratic Republic of 
Congo (DRC), Rwanda, (Rw), Burundi (Br), Kenyan (Ky).

The contents of this Update do not necessarily represent the views of the 
United Nations. Sources for the Update include Government, UN, NGOs, 
donors, IOs and news agencies.

Figures for the displaced people do not reflect "night commuters" in the 
towns, nor the recent new caseloads in Gulu and Pader from formerly 
ungazetted/unassisted camps.

The refugee figures are as of the end of September 2004, with the 
exception of Palorinya in Moyo, which is as of October 31, 2004.

The IDP figures are as of end October 2004. Note that the increase in the 
Gulu IDP figure does not include the IDPs from the formerly 
unrecognised/unassisted IDPs, screening of these is still ongoing. The 
Lira rural IDP camps have increased due to the IDPs moving from urban to 
the rural camps. The Lira municipality figure includes the extremely 
vulnerable individuals (EVIs) and IDPs, and WFP is still screening this 
figure to come up with only EVIs

The trend will remain as indicated unless there is a change (either 
increase or decrease) of 500 people.

For more information or to contribute to the Humanitarian Update - Uganda, 
please contact:

UN OFFICE FOR THE COORDINATION OF HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS  (OCHA)
15 A CLEMENT HILL ROAD
RUTH TOWERS B6
Kampala, Uganda
TEL: +256  031 242 804/9
FAX: +256  031 242 801
EMAIL: jane.namulindwa@wfp.org

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