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.
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 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 the Ten Commandments and Acholi tradition.
Joseph Rao Kony is a Ugandan insurgent and the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a guerrilla group that formerly operated in Uganda. While initially purporting to fight against government oppression, the LRA allegedly turned against Kony's own supporters, supposedly to "purify" the Acholi people and turn Uganda into a theocracy. Kony proclaims himself the spokesperson of God and a spirit medium and claims he is visited by a multinational host of 13 spirits, including a Chinese phantom. Ideologically, the group is a syncretic mix of mysticism, Acholi nationalism, and Christian fundamentalism, and claims to be establishing a theocratic state based on the Ten Commandments and local Acholi tradition.
Barlonyo is a village in northern Uganda near Lira town, where a number of internally displaced people (IDPs) from parts of northern Uganda lived, as a result of a 20-year LRA insurgency. It is located in Orit Parish, at the North -eastern end of Ogur sub-county in Lira District. It is a 45-minute drive from Lira town. Ironically it is now a field of graves, making it a tourist attraction site. What catches the eye is the v-shaped, 70 meter long grave on which residents of Barlonyo are often seen seated, eating or washing their clothes - or even drinking potent gin.
The Uganda–Tanzania War, known in Tanzania as the Kagera War and in Uganda as the 1979 Liberation War, was fought between Uganda and Tanzania from October 1978 until June 1979 and led to the overthrow of Ugandan President Idi Amin. The war was preceded by a deterioration of relations between Uganda and Tanzania following Amin's overthrow of President Milton Obote and subsequent seizure of power in 1971. The President of Tanzania, Julius Nyerere, had close ties with Obote and supported his attempt to launch a rebellion in Uganda in 1972, leading to a border clash and eventually the signing of an agreement with Amin which stipulated that both leaders would withdraw their forces from the border. Nevertheless, relations between the two presidents remained tense, and Amin began claiming that the Kagera Salient—a stretch of Tanzanian land between the official border and the Kagera River, should be placed under Uganda's jurisdiction. Over the following years, Amin's regime was destabilised by violent purges, economic problems, and dissatisfaction in the Uganda Army.
The Aboke abductions were the kidnapping of 139 secondary school female students from St. Mary's College boarding school by rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) on 10 October 1996, in Aboke, Kole District, Uganda. The deputy head mistress of the college, Sister Rachele Fassera of Italy, pursued the rebels and successfully negotiated the release of 109 of the girls. The Aboke abductions and Fassera's dramatic actions drew international attention, unprecedented at that time, to the insurgency in northern Uganda.
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.
The Ugandan Bush War, also known as the Luwero War, the Ugandan Civil War or the Resistance War, was a civil war fought in Uganda by the official Ugandan government and its armed wing, the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA), against a number of rebel groups, most importantly the National Resistance Army (NRA), from 1980 to 1986.
St. Rita School for the Deaf is an independent Roman Catholic school located in the village of Evendale, near Cincinnati, Ohio.
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.
The Christmas massacres took place on 24–27 December 2008, when the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a Ugandan rebel group, attacked several villages in Haut-Uele District, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Children of War is a documentary film directed by Bryan Single and released in 2010. 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.
Invisible Children, Inc. is an organization that was founded in 2004 to increase awareness of the activities of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in Central Africa, and its leader, Joseph Kony. Specifically, the group seeks to put an end to the practices of the LRA, which include abductions and abuse of children, and forcing them to serve as soldiers. To this end, Invisible Children urges the United States government to take military action in the central region of Africa. Invisible Children also operates as a charitable organization, soliciting donations and selling merchandise to raise money for its cause. The organization promotes its cause by dispensing films on the internet and presenting in high schools and colleges around the United States.
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.
The Allied Democratic Forces insurgency is an ongoing conflict waged by the Allied Democratic Forces in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, against the governments of those two countries and the MONUSCO. The insurgency began in 1995, intensifying in 2013, resulting in hundreds of deaths. The ADF is known to currently control a number of hidden camps which are home to about 2,000 people; in these camps, the ADF operates as proto-state with "an internal security service, a prison, health clinics, and an orphanage" as well as schools for boys and girls.
The South Sudanese Civil War was a multi-sided civil war in South Sudan between forces of the government and opposition forces. In December 2013, President Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar and ten others of attempting a coup d'état. Machar denied trying to start a coup and fled to lead the SPLM – in opposition (SPLM-IO). Fighting broke out between the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and SPLM-IO, igniting the civil war. Ugandan troops were deployed to fight alongside the South Sudanese government. The United Nations has peacekeepers in the country as part of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
Angela Atim Lakor, also Angela Lakor Atim, is a female Ugandan community activist, who is the co-founder of the Watye Ki Gen organisation, which supports former female abductees of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). The organisation assists the female returnees with their children's education and helps the families to cope with the stigma of association with the LRA.
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.
Godwin Sule was a high-ranking Sudanese-born Ugandan military officer who held important commands in the Uganda Army during the dictatorship of President Idi Amin. A native of southern Sudan, he fought as rebel in the First Sudanese Civil War before migrating to Uganda. There he rose to head of the Malire Battalion and later the Paratroopers Military School. Regarded as one of the most talented soldiers in the Uganda Army during Amin's rule, Sule was tasked with leading the last major Ugandan counter-offensive during the Uganda–Tanzania War of 1978–79. This operation culminated in the Battle of Lukaya of 10–11 March 1979, during which Sule was killed under unclear and disputed circumstances. His death resulted in the collapse of the Ugandan offensive, contributing to the eventual overthrow of Amin's regime.
The 1972 invasion of Uganda was an armed attempt by Ugandan insurgents, supported by Tanzania, to overthrow the regime of Idi Amin. Under the orders of former Ugandan President Milton Obote, insurgents launched an invasion of southern Uganda with limited Tanzanian support in September 1972. The rebel force mostly consisted of the "People's Army" whose forces were mainly loyal to Obote, but also included guerillas led by Yoweri Museveni. The operation was hampered by problems from the start, as a planned rebel commando raid had to be aborted, Amin was warned of the impending invasion, and the rebels lacked numbers, training, and equipment. Regardless, the militants occupied a few towns in southern Uganda at the invasion's start. However, no major popular uprising erupted as Obote had hoped.