OCHA Situation Report
Uganda
Report for 1 - 30 November 2007
19 December 2007


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Highlights

- Ebola outbreak confirmed in Bundibugyo district (western Uganda)

- Hepatitis confirmed in Kitgum district; Measles in Kumi and Bukedea 
districts

- Protected Kraals to be dismantled iin Karamoja Region


SECURITY AND ACCESS

SECURITY

The general security situation continued to be calm across northern 
Uganda during the reporting period, with only two non-hostile suspected 
sightings of Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) remnants. According to the 
United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS), UPDF tracking 
of LRA remnants has dislodged them from hiding places, leading to 
increased sightings and food raids, mainly in Pader and Kitgum 
Districts.

As in previous months, criminal activities continued to pose the gravest 
threat to individual security in northern Uganda. Several incidents 
involving armed robbers were recorded during the month. The most serious 
crime against the humanitarian community involved the 1 November armed 
ambush and robbery of a vehicle belonging to the non-governmental 
organization (NGO) Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development 
(ACTED) in Amuru District in which two of the four staff in the vehicle 
were killed by armed robbers. One of the two surviving staff was 
seriously wounded in the attack. The attackers remain at large, although 
three individuals have been arrested by the authorities to help in the 
investigation. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees(UNHCR) 
and ACTED suspended road rehabilitation projects in Amuru District 
pending the outcome of the police investigation.

In Oyam district, a piece of unexploded ordnance (UXO) exploded near a 
cooking place, injuring one woman and two children.

Some isolated incidents of Karimojong raids were reported in Adipala and 
Kamenu in Magoro sub-counties of Katakwi District, with the Anti Stock 
Theft Units (ASTUs) reported to have recovered the goats and cattle 
taken. Communities in the Teso sub-region have begun to express the fear 
that raids will increase with the onset of the dry season and as grass 
becomes scarce in the Karamoja region. In Karamoja, general hostilities 
prevailed throughout the reporting period as the Uganda People's Defence 
Force (UPDF) continued its disarmament campaign at the same high 
intensity as in October. The UNDSS recordedtwenty reported cattle raids 
during the month as well as 11 deaths, six injuries and two abductions. 
The UPDF carried out a record 17 cordon-and-search operations. 
Meanwhile, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 
(OCHA) confirmed that the security situation remained grim during 
November, with raids reported in four of the region's five districts, as 
well as several incidents of murder and rape.

In a significant reversal, the UPDF and local leaders have agreed to 
dismantle all protected kraals and suspend UPDF protection of common 
grazing grounds, citing a number of factors including lack of adequate 
water and pasture for the animals, the burden on the UPDF of keeping the 
animals, which draws off resources from disarmament operations and 
security patrols, continued aggressive activities by Karimojong whose 
animals are in the protected kraals against neighbouring communities an 
lack of community cooperation to implement the protected kraals and 
grazing ground policies.

ACCESS

All camps in northern Uganda remain accessible without military escort; 
only the World Food Programme (WFP) continues to use light military 
escorts for its food convoys. The civilian population is moving about 
freely. Flood-damaged roads and bridges in parts of eastern and northern 
Uganda remain the only consistent limitation to humanitarian access. In 
Katakwi and Amuria, main roads are open, although even light rains can 
create bottlenecks on roads badly damaged by the flooding. Additionally, 
damage to secondary and tertiary roads has hampered the return process 
in parts of the Teso sub-region. Now that the dry season has arrived, 
there is an urgent need for assessment and road repairs, including on 
the Tomorma-Magoro road in Katakwi District and onthe Mbale-Soroti road 
at Awoja bridge.

Major rehabilitation of the Katakwi-Soroti road is ongoing, as are 
United, Nations Development Programme (UNDP)-sponsored repairs to the 
road at Magoro Corner.

Pader district and the World Food Programme (WFP) have agreed to
rehabilitate bad sports on major roads in the district. The project is
expected to begin in December.

Attachments:
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/retrieveattachments?openagent&docid=852858E79B67B50A432573B6002BD9C9&file=Full_Report.pdf

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