Last week, we received the exciting news that the Obama Administration would be strengthening its efforts to help arrest Joseph Kony and end LRA violence by contributing at least four V-22 Osprey aircraft and additional military personnel to the counter-LRA mission. In the same week, we received even more encouraging news — the European Union (EU)* has committed 2 million Euros (2.7 million US dollars) to fund the African Union Regional Cooperation Initiative (AU-RCI), which is focused on ending LRA violence and arresting top LRA leaders. These funds, among other things, will cover the staff allowances, communication equipment and operational costs for this AU-led initiative.

According to Andris Piebalgs, the EU Commissioner for Development:

“The [African Union] Regional Cooperation Initiative has been instrumental in creating a peaceful and secure environment for development in the LRA-affected countries and this is why the EU has been supporting it since 2011. It has degraded the LRA and increased pressure on its combatants to defect. It is essential to sustain the initiative’s operations to eliminate the threat of LRA once and for all”.

We are very thankful to the EU for continuing its support of the African Union’s efforts to end LRA violence — and we hope that this support continues until this crisis is finally ended, and LRA-affected communities are on the road to lasting recovery. One easy way you can encourage the EU to keep its support coming is to say a simple “thank you” (this is especially important for European IC supporters!) :

SEND A THANK-YOU TWEET TO THE EU FOR ITS COMMITMENT TO ENDING LRA ATROCITIES:

SAMPLE TWEET: Thank you @EU_EEAS @EUROPEAN_UNION for continuing your support of the AU’s efforts to end #LRA violence!

Here’s some interesting background about the EU’s involvement in the LRA issue:

In November of 2012, representatives from the European Union attended the first ever Global Summit on the LRA. The summit consisted of a panel of leaders from countries and global institutions with the highest stake in ending the LRA crisis. It was the first time that all of these international leaders gathered to discuss the ongoing conflict and what steps need to be taken to stop Joseph Kony once and for all.

In October of 2013, the European Parliament hosted an LRA-focused forum attended by local leaders from LRA-affected areas of central Africa. Representatives from the European Union (EU), African Union (AU), and United Nations (UN) participated in the event to discuss current efforts to address the LRA conflict and to listen to the perspective of local representatives from the affected region.

* The European Union is a governing political and economic union between 28 states in Europe. It consists of three separate councils that deliberates on social and political issues.

(Photo Credit)