OCHA Situation Report No. 3
Uganda
1 - 15 February 2006


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

I. GENERAL HUMANITARIAN CONTEXT

Security

The UN Department for Safety and Security (UNDSS) reports that although 
there was an overall low level of Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) activity, 
between 4 and 12 February, there were 20 abductions, 3 civilians killed, 
4 confrontations between the Uganda's People defence Forces (UPDF) and 
the LRA and a sighting of LRA rebels in Lira district alone. The LRA 
seem to have relative movement ability there, as they abducted civilians 
as far south as Barr sub-county on 5 February. According to the UNDSS, 
although no aggressive daytime activity was reported in the period in 
Gulu district, it must be noted that the LRA have the ability to abduct 
civilians from within Gulu municipality, where 10 people were abducted 
from Layibi Aywee village on 11 February. There was also one LRA raid on 
4 February on Awich and Pageya trading centres in Paicho sub-county, in 
which 2 people were seriously injured and an unknown number abducted. 
There were fewer LRA incidents reported in Kitgum and Pader.

No LRA activity has been recorded in Teso sub-region (Soroti, 
Kaberamaido, Katakwi and Amuria districts) during the reporting period. 
However, due to presence of armed Jie Karimojong herdsmen in Katakwi and 
Amuria districts, security remains unpredictable, particularly in 
sub-counties bordering the Karamoja region. Civilians, particularly 
women, have to team up in groups to be escorted by local militia to 
collect firewood, water, thatch grass or trap mud fish. According to the 
Amuria district interim Local Council 5 Chairperson, the UPDF carried 
out an air raid on the Jie Karimojong who had camped at the border with 
the district and the Karimojong consequently dispersed to unknown 
destinations.

Access

All internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in Pader district remain 
under military escort restrictions. In Gulu, Kitgum and Pader districts, 
displaced families can generally move within a radius of 2-5 km outside 
IDP camps during certain hours of the day: between 8:00am and 5:00pm in 
Gulu and between 9:00am and 5:00pm in Pader and Kitgum districts. Access 
to IDP camps by humanitarian agencies in Gulu remains unchanged compared 
to the previous report, with 15 out of the 55 camps accessible without 
military escort. In Kitgum 2 out of 22 camps are accessed without 
escort. In Lira, UN agencies use military escorts to the camps in Aromo, 
Ogur, Okwang, Apala, Adwari, Orum, Olilim, Abia and Okwongo 
sub-counties.

In Kitgum district, OCHA and humanitarian organisations met on 10 
February to discuss the current military escort system. Problems 
identified include poor quality of the rented escort vehicles, resulting 
in frequent breakdowns during field trips; ill-trained and poorly 
equipped soldiers, mainly from local defence unit (LDU) personnel. Also 
apparent was the lack of consistency amongst humanitarian organisations 
in light of the UPDF guidelines on the provision of lunch allowance for 
soldiers taking part in military escorts. Some organisations provide the 
agreed two bottles of water and two packets of biscuits, while others 
admitted paying up to 5,000 Uganda Shillings per soldier in view of 
soldiers' negative attitude towards the biscuits and water. OCHA urges 
humanitarian organisations to comply with the UPDF guidelines in order 
to ensure uniformity of approach. The meeting concluded that there is a 
need for strong liaison between aid agencies and the UPDF to coordinate 
escorts. Also in Kitgum, the UPDF has expressed concern over a series of 
recent road accidents involving military escort vehicles that resulted 
in the death of a soldier and left several others severely injured. 
UNDSS is developing guidelines for minimum standards for escort 
vehicles.

Meningitis outbreak

According to WHO/UNICEF/MOH, the total number of cases in Nakapiripirit 
district now stands at 293, with 29 fatalities, while in Moroto district 
44 cases resulted in 5 fatalities. In Nakapiripirit district, the 
emergency Meningitis vaccination campaign took place from 4 to 8 
February. The objective of the campaign was to immunize at least 80% of 
the targeted population (2 to 30 years). According to district health 
authorities, the overall coverage, at 85% of that target, was 
satisfactory. However, there were great variations in coverage of 
individual sub counties: the four sub counties of Nakapiripirit, Namalu, 
Amudat and Loroo had coverage's above 100% whereas Karita and Moruita 
sub counties had the worst coverage of 27% and 55% respectively. 
Coverage figures above 100% could mainly be attributed to increases in 
population as a result of migrations due to the dry season and influx 
from western Pokot. Inflated denominators, negative cultural practices 
and difficulty in reaching some remote areas are responsible for the low 
coverage. The immunization campaign in Moroto district took place from 9 
to 13 February and preliminary coverage results point to just over 80% 
of targeted population. In Gulu district, a Task Force for meningitis 
preparedness was formed on 8 February in response to the 7 suspected 
cases reported at the end of January. Three further suspected cases were 
reported in Nakapiripirit, 1 in Kotido (where an investigation team has 
been dispatched), 2 in Kitgum, 1 in Apac and 4 in Mbale districts. 
Meanwhile, it appears that the confirmed case in Soroti district had 
originated in Moroto. Surveillance teams in Gulu, Soroti and Katakwi 
districts have been placed on high alert.

Camp fires

The wave of dry season fires continued to rage in Gulu, Kitgum, Pader 
and Lira IDP camps with thousands of families losing their huts and 
property.

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