Northern Uganda death rate higher than Iraq

(ABC News) A report by more than 50 charity groups says the rate of violent deaths in northern Uganda is three times higher than in Iraq.

The report has been prepared by Civil Society Organisations for Peace in Northern Uganda (CSOPNU).

It says nearly 150 northern Ugandans die every week due to the rebellion waged by the group the Lords Resistance Army (LRA).

CSOPNU demands the UN Security Council add its voice to their call for peace talks to end the violence.

"It should express its conviction the crisis ... can only be ended via a process of political engagement, diplomacy, and peaceful negotiation," the coalition said in a statement.

The United Nations coordinator for humanitarian affairs, Jan Egeland, says the Ugandan Government must act to stop further bloodshed.

"We now need to see them realise the very encouraging statements that have been there from the Foreign Minister and also very positive signals from President Museveni that a different, renewed more systematic effort of the Ugandan Government to provide security for their own citizens will now take place," he said.

Living conditions Mr Egeland calls the war one of the world's most neglected humanitarian disasters.

Camps in the Uganda's north are home to more than 1.6 million people sheltering from fighting between troops and LRA rebels.

One study last year estimated that 1,000 people died every week in the north as a result of poor living conditions.

In its new report, CSOPNU says the main war victims are children.
Some 25,000 have been abducted by the LRA as fighters and "wives", while tens of thousands more trudge into towns every night rather than risk being kidnapped from their beds.

Half of all camp residents are under the age of 15.

A quarter of all children over 10 have lost one or both parents.
"This is a catastrophe that is fuelled not only by terrible acts of war and violence. It is also fuelled by a shameful litany of failure," CSOPNU said.
Uganda's Government says the LRA has been greatly weakened by a combination talks, amnesty and military operations.

But the aid groups accuse the Government of pursuing a military victory against the LRA at the expense of protecting civilians.

The Government denies the charge.

- BBC/Reuters