Ricky Richard Anywar

Last updated

Rick Richard Anywar is a Ugandan politician and former child soldier of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebel founded by Joseph Kony. Anywar was conscripted at the age of 14 and served in the rebel army for two years before escaping at the age of 16. He was orphaned after his parents were killed by the LRA. [1]  He founded Friends of Orphans (FRO), a nonprofit organisation focusing on reintegrating former child soldiers back to normal life. [2] [3] [4] He is currently a member of the Ugandan Parliament representing Agago West County. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] He won the 2008 Harriet Tubman Award. [10] [11]

Contents

Early life and education

Anywar was raised in Northern Region, Uganda where he was abducted at the age of 14 along with his brother, after other family members, including his parents, were killed during an invasion of their village by the LRA forces. Both Anywar and his brother were forced to fight as child soldiers for two and a half years before they escaped from the rebel group. His brother, who escaped earlier, committed suicide. Anywar was then left a complete orphan and homeless at the age of 16. [12] [13] [14] He was rehabilitated and secured a University degree. After graduation from Kyambogo University, he had a stint in the Ministry of Education before quitting to found Friends of Orphans, a nonprofit organisation focusing on rehabilitating and reintegrating former child soldiers. [5] He currently serves as the Executive Director of the organisation. [15]

Political career

Anywar was elected to the Agago County seat in the 11th Ugandan parliament on the ticket of National Resistance Movement in 2021. [5]

Media

Anywar was featured in the book ''Soldier Boy'' by Keely Hutton published in 2017. The book follows his life story. It begins with his abduction by the LRA and tells his struggle to survive in the army and not lose his brother. The book ends with his eventual escape and the founding of Friends of Orphans. The book also tells a fictional story of a boy named Samuel who is helped by the Friends of Orphans. It has won multiple awards, including Booklist's Top 10 First Novels for Youth 2017, and was the 2018 Children’s Africana Book Award Winner. [16]


Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lord's Resistance Army insurgency</span> Ongoing insurgency in central Africa

The Lord's Resistance Army insurgency is an ongoing guerrilla campaign waged by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) insurgent group since 1987. Currently, there is low-level LRA activity in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic. The movement is led by Joseph Kony, who proclaims himself the "spokesperson" of God and a spirit medium. It aims to overthrow Yoweri Museveni's Ugandan government and establish a theocratic state based on a version of the Ten Commandments and Acholi tradition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Uganda (1979–1986)</span>

The History of Uganda from 1979 to 1986 comprises the history of Uganda since the end of the dictatorship of Idi Amin. This period has seen the second rule of Milton Obote and the presidency of Yoweri Museveni since 1986, in which Ugandan politics have been dominated by the National Resistance Movement.

Joseph Rao Kony is a Ugandan militant who founded the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a Christian fundamentalist organization, designated as a terrorist group by the United Nations Peacekeepers, the European Union and various other governments.

Unknown Soldier is a fictional war comics character in the DC Comics Universe. The character was created by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert, first appearing in Our Army At War #168. The character is named after The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia. The character of the Unknown Soldier is symbolic of the nameless soldiers that have fought throughout America's wars; as stated in his first featured story "They Came From Shangri-La!", he is the "man who no one knows — but — is known by everyone!" Another nickname for the character used in the series is "The Immortal G.I."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human rights in Uganda</span>

Human rights in Uganda as a state relates to the difficulties in the achievement of international rights standards for all citizens. These difficulties centre upon the provision of proper sanitation facilities, internal displacement, development of adequate infrastructure, as well as the mistreatment of the LGBT community, women, and children. Nonetheless, Uganda is, as per the Relief Web sponsored Humanitarian Profile – 2012, making considerable developments in this area.

Dominic Ongwen is a Ugandan former child soldier and former commander of one of the brigades of the Ugandan guerrilla group Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).

Aboke is a town in the Kole District of the Northern Region of Uganda. It was the location of the Aboke abductions, in October 1996.

Labora Farms was founded as a project with the help of the Northern Ugandan Social Action Fund (NUSAF), a government organization in Uganda with $100 million of funding from the World Bank. The goal of NUSAF is to help local communities in the 18 districts of northern Uganda that have been ravaged by conflict over the last 20 years. This money is given directly to members of the community so they can invest in infrastructure and training for long-term development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lord's Resistance Army</span> Ugandan rebel movement

The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), also known as the Lord's Resistance Movement, is a rebel group and heterodox Christian group which operates in northern Uganda, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Originally known as the United Holy Salvation Army and Uganda Christian Army/Movement, its stated goals include establishment of multi-party democracy, ruling Uganda according to the Ten Commandments, and Acholi nationalism.

Uganda is a source and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Ugandan children are trafficked within the country, as well as to Canada, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia for forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation. Karamojong women and children are sold in cattle markets or by intermediaries and forced into situations of domestic servitude, sexual exploitation, herding, and begging. Security companies in Kampala recruit Ugandans to serve as security guards in Iraq where, at times, their travel documents and pay have reportedly been withheld as a means to prevent their departure. These cases may constitute trafficking.

Children of War is a 2009 documentary film directed by Bryan Single. Filmed in northern Uganda over a period of three years, the story follows the journey of a group of former child soldiers as they undergo a process of trauma therapy and emotional healing while in a rehabilitation center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Criminal Court investigation in Uganda</span>

The International Criminal Court investigation in Uganda or the situation in Uganda is an ongoing investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) into the Lord's Resistance Army insurgency which has been taking place in northern Uganda and neighbouring regions since 1987. The Lord's Resistance Army is a Christian-based group led by Joseph Kony that is accused of numerous human rights violations including massacres, the abduction of civilians, the use of child soldiers, sexual enslavement, torture, and pillaging. After the government of Uganda referred the matter to the ICC in December 2003, warrants of arrest were issued in 2005 for Joseph Kony, Raska Lukwiya, Okot Odhiambo, Dominic Ongwen, and Vincent Otti, who became the first people to be indicted by the Court.

<i>Kony 2012</i> 2012 film

Kony 2012 is a 2012 American short documentary film produced by Invisible Children creators Invisible Children, Inc. The film's purpose was to make Ugandan cult leader, war criminal, and ICC fugitive Joseph Kony globally known so as to have him arrested by the end of 2012. The film was released on March 5, 2012, and spread virally, and the campaign was initially supported by various celebrities.

StGiNU is an advocacy group formed in the beginning of 2005 by Ugandans living in the United Kingdom. At that time, the situation in the concentration camps in Northern Uganda was claiming lives more than cross fire casualties. In the same year 2005, the Ugandan World Health Organization reported that there were 5000 excess deaths per week due to camp conditions alone.

Grace Akallo is a Ugandan woman who was abducted in 1996 to be used as a child soldier in the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel military group led by Joseph Kony. At the time of her abduction, Akallo was 15 years old and attending St. Mary's College, a Catholic boarding school in Aboke, Uganda. She remained in the LRA for seven months before escaping. After escaping the army, Akallo returned to St. Mary's College to finish her high school education. She began her college education at the Uganda Christian University, but finished her undergraduate degree at Gordon College after receiving a scholarship. Akallo then went on to receive her master's degree from Clark University/ Upon her escape from the LRA, Akallo began working as an advocate for peace and for the rights of African women and children. She has been using both her experiences as a child soldier and the information she has gained in her higher education to advocate against violence and the use of child soldiers, as well as to help counsel other escaped child soldiers like herself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of children in the military</span> History of recruiting children for military operations

Children in the military are children who are associated with military organizations, such as state armed forces and non-state armed groups. Throughout history and in many cultures, children have been involved in military campaigns. For example, thousands of children participated on all sides of the First World War and the Second World War. Children may be trained and used for combat, assigned to support roles such as porters or messengers, or used for tactical advantage as human shields or for political advantage in propaganda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acholi people</span> Ethnic group of South Sudan and Northern Uganda

The Acholi people are a Nilotic ethnic group of Luo peoples, found in Magwi County in South Sudan and Northern Uganda, including the districts of Agago, Amuru, Gulu, Kitgum, Nwoya, Lamwo, Pader and Omoro District. Approximately 2.1 million Acholi were counted in the Uganda census of 2014, and 45,000 more were living in South Sudan in 2000.

Child soldiers in Uganda are members of the Lord's Resistance Army, a rebel group that has been abducting young people since 1987 to fill out their ranks. Children and youth are usually abducted from their homes, often with one or more others, and in characteristically violent ways. New abductees are subjected to an intense period of integration and homogenization. Once indoctrinated, recruits are retained by threats of violence, cultivation of an intense in-group identity, and a belief in spiritual monitoring and punishment.

Betty Lalam is a Ugandan teacher and ex-abductee of the Lord's Resistance Army, She is a director for Gulu War Affected Training Center.

Amos John Okot is a Ugandan pastor, politician and member of Ugandan parliament representing Agago North on the ticket of National Resistance Movement (NRM). He was first elected in 2011 to the 9th parliament but failed to secure re-election in 2016. He was re-elected to the parliament in the 2021 general elections.

References

  1. ↑ "Ricky Richard Anywar". en.gariwo.net (in Italian). Retrieved 2021-08-16.
  2. ↑ "Rehabilitating Child-Soldiers: Friends of Orphans (FRO)". BORGEN. 2014-02-20. Retrieved 2021-08-16.
  3. ↑ "Ricky Richard Anywar". en.gariwo.net. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
  4. ↑ "Anywar Ricky Richard". Hearts on Fire. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
  5. 1 2 3 "NUP Candidate Withdraws From Agago West County Seat :". Uganda Radionetwork. Retrieved 2021-08-16.
  6. ↑ "Anywar Ricky Richard - 2021 General Election - Visible Polls". visiblepolls.org. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
  7. ↑ "Ricky Anywar | IREX". www.irex.org. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
  8. ↑ "Anywar Ricky Richard - Friends of Orphans | The Natural Resource Management Network". www.comminit.com. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
  9. ↑ Mugisha, Crispus (2020-12-10). "NUP candidate withdraws from MP race, campaigns for NRM opponent". Nile Post. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
  10. ↑ https://www.freetheslaves.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/FTS_Previous-Award-Winners_FriendsofOrphans.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  11. ↑ "Anywar Ricky Richard, World of Children". worldofchildren.org. Retrieved 2021-08-16.
  12. ↑ "Netzkraft Movement". www.netzkraft.net. Retrieved 2021-08-16.
  13. ↑ "SUNY Canton". www.canton.edu. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
  14. ↑ "Anywar · Antislavery Usable Past". antislavery.ac.uk. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
  15. ↑ Moe, Todd. "Moving the world: from child soldier to community servant". NCPR. Retrieved 2021-08-16.
  16. ↑ "Keely Hutton | Soldier Boy". keelyhutton. Retrieved 2022-04-01.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.