Uganda Landmine Survivors Association

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The Uganda Landmine Survivors Association (ULSA) is a non-governmental organization, focused primarily on advocacy and victim assistance throughout Uganda. The organization was founded in April 2005 in order to campaign against the use, production and transfer of landmines, cluster munitions and explosive remnants of war (ERWs). ULSA also serves as a peer to peer support network for survivors, providing them with training in vocational, leadership and advocacy skills in partnership with other organizations throughout Northern and Western Uganda.

Non-governmental organization organization that is neither a part of a government nor a conventional for-profit business

Non-governmental organizations - commonly referred to as NGOs, are usually non-profit independent of governments, many are active in humanitarian etc. areas, however, NGOs can also be as lobby groups for corporations, such as the World Economic Forum. NGOs is also sometimes expanded to nongovernmental or nongovernment organizations. They are thus a subgroup of all organizations founded by citizens, which include clubs and other associations that provide services, benefits, and premises only to members. Sometimes the term is used as a synonym of "civil society organization" to refer to any association founded by citizens, but this is not how the term is normally used in the media or everyday language, as recorded by major dictionaries. The explanation of the term by NGO.org is ambivalent. It first says an NGO is any non-profit, voluntary citizens' group which is organized on a local, national or international level, but then goes on to restrict the meaning in the sense used by most English speakers and the media: Task-oriented and driven by people with a common interest, NGOs perform a variety of service and humanitarian functions, bring citizen concerns to Governments, advocate and monitor policies and encourage political participation through provision of information.

Advocacy is an activity by an individual or group that aims to influence decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions. Advocacy includes activities and publications to influence public policy, laws and budgets by using facts, their relationships, the media, and messaging to educate government officials and the public. Advocacy can include many activities that a person or organization undertakes including media campaigns, public speaking, commissioning and publishing research. Lobbying is a form of advocacy where a direct approach is made to legislators on a specific issue or specific piece of legislation. Research has started to address how advocacy groups in the United States and Canada are using social media to facilitate civic engagement and collective action.

Uganda Republic in East Africa

Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a country in East-Central Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The southern part of the country includes a substantial portion of Lake Victoria, shared with Kenya and Tanzania. Uganda is in the African Great Lakes region. Uganda also lies within the Nile basin, and has a varied but generally a modified equatorial climate.

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The Uganda Landmine Survivors Association is composed of district-level survivor groups across the country and other like minded NGOs and stakeholders whose mandate include addressing landmine related issues, support to landmine survivors and other persons with disabilities, including survivor groups in Apac, Lira, Gulu, Kasese, Kitgum, Oyam and Pader. There are 2,039 estimated victims of antipersonnel mines living in Uganda. [1]

Apac Place in Northern Uganda, Uganda

Apac is a town in Apac District, Northern Uganda. It is the 'chief town' of the district and the district headquarters are located there. The district is named after the town.

Lira, Uganda Place in Northern Region of Uganda, Uganda

Lira is a city in the Northern Region of Uganda. It is the main municipal, administrative, and commercial centre of Lira District.

Gulu Municipality in Uganda

Gulu is a city in the Northern Region of Uganda. It is the commercial and administrative centre of Gulu District.

Contamination throughout Uganda

Ugandan landmine survivor and campaigner Margaret Arach Orech founded the Uganda Landmine Survivors Association organization in April 2005, shown here at the May 2008 Dublin conference for the Convention on Cluster Munitions. In 2006, Orech was appointed ambassador to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines Stop cluster bomb march - Uganda.jpg
Ugandan landmine survivor and campaigner Margaret Arach Orech founded the Uganda Landmine Survivors Association organization in April 2005, shown here at the May 2008 Dublin conference for the Convention on Cluster Munitions. In 2006, Orech was appointed ambassador to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines

Decades of violence and incivility have forced some 1.8 million people to leave their homes in Northern Uganda. Since 2006, the landlocked African nation has been negotiating a peace deal with the Lord's Resistance Army, a rebel group known for terrorizing the Acholi and Lango people of the North through child-abductions, mutilation, massacre and sexual enslavement.

Lords Resistance Army 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.

Acholi people ethnic group

The Acholi people are a Luo nation found in Magwi County in South Sudan and Northern Uganda, including the districts of Agago, Amuru, Gulu, Kitgum, Nwoya, Lamwo, and Pader. Approximately 1.17 million Acholi were counted in the Uganda census of 2002, and 45,000 more were living in South Sudan in 2000.

There is also significant contamination in the Western region of Uganda, stemming from conflict on the Congolese border.

Despite improving political conditions, however, landmine survivors continue to face serious injustices daily in Uganda, including inadequate medical support and inability to find sufficient employment or food. Moreover, victims are often shunned by their families for fear of becoming a burden. [3]

While the landmine problem in Uganda is less severe than countries like Angola, Mozambique and Afghanistan, the nature of the weapon has made it difficult to overcome. [4] According to Ugandan officials, there are more than 350 suspected hazardous areas in the country, of which 153 are Kitgum; 91 in Gulu; 61 in Amuru and 57 in Kasese. [5]

See also

International Campaign to Ban Landmines

The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) is a coalition of non-governmental organizations whose stated objective is a world free of anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions, where mine and cluster munitions survivors see their rights respected and can lead fulfilling lives.

Convention on Cluster Munitions International treaty

The Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) is an international treaty that prohibits the use, transfer, and stockpiling of cluster bombs, a type of explosive weapon which scatters submunitions ("bomblets") over an area. The convention was adopted on 30 May 2008 in Dublin, and was opened for signature on 3 December 2008 in Oslo. It entered into force on 1 August 2010, six months after it was ratified by 30 states. As of September 2018, 108 states have signed the treaty and 107 have ratified it or acceded to it.

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Survivor Corps organization

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Land mines in Cambodia Landmines in Cambodia

Cambodia is a country located in South East Asia that has a major problem with landmines, especially in rural areas. This is the legacy of three decades of war which has taken a severe toll on the Cambodians; it has some 40,000 amputees, which is one of the highest rates in the world. The Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) estimates that there may be as many as four to six million mines and other pieces of unexploded ordnance in Cambodia. Some estimates however run as high as ten million mines.

A mine clearance organization, or demining organization, is an organization involved in removal of landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) for military, humanitarian, or commercial reasons. Demining includes mine clearance, as well as surveying, mapping and marking of hazardous areas.

Lords Resistance Army insurgency (1994–2002)

The start of the period 1994 to 2002 of the Lord's Resistance Army insurgency in northern Uganda saw the conflict intensifying due to Sudanese support to the rebels. There was a peak of bloodshed in the mid-1990s and then a gradual subsiding of the conflict. Violence was renewed beginning with the offensive by the Uganda People's Defence Force in 2002.

Humanity & Inclusion organization

Humanity & Inclusion is an international non-governmental organization. It was founded in 1982 to provide help in refugee camps in Cambodia and Thailand. Headquartered in France and Belgium, since its creation, it has opened branches in six other countries : Switzerland, Luxembourg, United Kingdom, Germany, Canada and the United States.

Ken Rutherford (political scientist) American political scientist

Kenneth R. Rutherford is co-founder of the Landmine Survivors Network and a researcher in the field of political science.

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Mine action is a combination of humanitarian aid and development studies that aim to reduce the social, economic and environmental impact of landmines and the explosive remnants of war (ERW).

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Railway stations in Uganda include:

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Centenary Bank is a commercial bank in Uganda. It is one of the commercial banks licensed by the Bank of Uganda, the central bank and national banking regulator.

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