- In Brief
Uganda
![Sudanese refugee Mary Anech, above, is a single mother of three, a teaching assistant in IRC-supported primary schools, a leader of a women's group, and a successful businesswoman selling and repairing clothing. "We are not idle here," she says. "Every day we have two goals: making the best of things here, and thinking of how we can best prepare for when we are back in Sudan." Photo: Thomas Bohnett/The IRC](/typo3temp/pics/da8e88b2da.jpg "Sudanese refugee Mary Anech, above, is a single mother of three, a teaching assistant in IRC-supported primary schools, a leader of a women's group, and a successful businesswoman selling and repairing clothing. "We are not idle here," she says. "Every day we have two goals: making the best of things here, and thinking of how we can best prepare for when we are back in Sudan." Photo: Thomas Bohnett/The IRC")
- Sudanese refugee Mary Anech, above, is a single mother of three, a teaching assistant in IRC-supported primary schools, a leader of a women's group, and a successful businesswoman selling and repairing clothing. "We are not idle here," she says. "Every day we have two goals: making the best of things here, and thinking of how we can best prepare for when we are back in Sudan." Photo: Thomas Bohnett/The IRC
![Sudanese refugee Mary Anech, above, is a single mother of three, a teaching assistant in IRC-supported primary schools, a leader of a women's group, and a successful businesswoman selling and repairing clothing. "We are not idle here," she says. "Every day we have two goals: making the best of things here, and thinking of how we can best prepare for when we are back in Sudan." Photo: Thomas Bohnett/The IRC](/typo3temp/pics/66a5c79c7b.jpg "Sudanese refugee Mary Anech, above, is a single mother of three, a teaching assistant in IRC-supported primary schools, a leader of a women's group, and a successful businesswoman selling and repairing clothing. "We are not idle here," she says. "Every day we have two goals: making the best of things here, and thinking of how we can best prepare for when we are back in Sudan." Photo: Thomas Bohnett/The IRC")
Having overcome the violence of years under the dictators Idi Amin and Milton Obote, Uganda once again experienced gross suffering as the war in northern Uganda between the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and the Ugandan government, ongoing since 1986, escalated significantly in 2002.
LRA tactics of abduction, rape, murder and the use of child soldiers terrorised the civilian population and more than 1.6 million fled their homes. Peace talks that led to a ceasefire in 2006 have recently broken down and there are fears of renewed violence. Uganda is also host to thousands of refugees from neighbouring countries, particularly from southern Sudan.
The International Rescue Committee began operating in northern Uganda in 1998, offering urgent assistance to children who had escaped from the LRA. Today, the IRC supports tens of thousands of people returning home following the 2006 ceasefire, working with government and civil society to ensure returnees and host communities have the essential services to help them rebuild and recover.
The IRC also works in northwest Uganda to aid conflict-affected communities in the drought-prone sub-region of Karamoja. Projects include helping pastoralist communities to stop cattle raids, which result in many deaths and the loss of livestock every year.
Meanwhile, programmes to assist tens of thousands of Southern Sudanese refugees in Masindi and Yumbe districts are being handed over to the Ugandan Government as the majority of refugees (over 73%) have now returned home.
