June 14th, 2016 at 3:00pm EST

Last week, the Ugandan military announced plans to withdraw its troops from the Central African Republic (CAR), where they have been the primary contributing force to the African Union mission to apprehend Joseph Kony and end the violence of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). They announced that this withdrawal would take place by the end of the year. Today, we have two important updates on the situation.

+ Yesterday, a U.S. State Department official remarked that the United States is “working closely” with Uganda and other countries in the region to “ensure a successful completion of the mission.”

It’s encouraging to hear that the U.S. government plans on remaining committed to LRA-affected communities, despite the Ugandan military’s intended withdrawal. We will continue to pay close attention to the situation and encourage the State Department to uphold this commitment. And you can bet that we’re ready to raise our voices loudly to ensure that communities in central Africa are adequately protected from violence.

+ On Wednesday, June 15, the United Nations Security Council will host its biannual briefing on the status of the LRA conflict and counter-LRA efforts. Regardless of whether or not Ugandan forces withdraw from the mission at the end of the year, it is imperative that the UN peacekeeping mission in CAR (MINUSCA) works to ensure that communities in LRA-affected areas receive the protection they need. In Wednesday’s UN Security Council Briefing, the role of MINUSCA in ensuring the safety of LRA-affected communities must be emphasized.

The LRA has a notorious history of committing brutal retaliatory attacks on civilians that are left unprotected. Without a committed and adequate presence of protection actors on the ground, communities in CAR will be left extremely vulnerable to possible retaliatory violence from the LRA, as well as the insecurity caused by other armed groups in the region.

The mission to end the LRA crisis is not complete until every abductee is home, every community is safe from LRA attacks, and Joseph Kony is brought to justice.

Our advocacy team in Washington will continue to monitor the situation closely and engage with political leaders to ensure that civilians in central Africa are protected from violence by the LRA and other armed groups.  

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June 10th, 2016 at 5:00pm EST

This week, the Ugandan military, which has been a central player in the African Union’s regional effort to apprehend Joseph Kony and end the violence of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), announced plans to withdraw its troops from the mission by the end of the year. Ugandan troops have been based in the southeast region of the Central African Republic (CAR), where LRA attacks and abductions continue. According to the LRA Crisis Tracker, the LRA has already carried out 90 attacks on communities in CAR and DR Congo so far this year, killing a total of 13 people and abducting 345.

This announcement is exceptionally concerning, as a withdrawal of Ugandan troops from CAR will effectively create a security vacuum in southeastern Central African Republic. Despite the presence of United Nations peacekeepers in other areas of CAR, very few have been deployed to areas impacted by LRA violence. Without the presence of security forces to provide adequate civilian protection and to apply pressure on top LRA commanders, communities in southeastern CAR will be left highly vulnerable to LRA attacks, including possible retaliatory violence for which the LRA has been notorious in the past.

Photo credit: The Star, Kenya

Invisible Children urges the Ugandan government as well as other regional governments, the African Union, United Nations, United States, and European Union to continue working together to ensure the adequate protection of communities in central Africa and a permanent end to the threat of LRA violence.

As we continue to call on international leaders to stop the LRA and support affected communities through our Citizen Advocacy Network, we also continue to work directly with community partners in central Africa to protect civilians from violence and peacefully dismantle the LRA from within through programs like our Early Warning Network and ‘Come Home’ Defection Messages.

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For more information on Uganda’s role in ending LRA violence, read the following report by author Rodney Muhumuza from the Washington Post.

KAMPALA, Uganda — Uganda plans to withdraw all of its troops from a mission in Central African Republic whose goal is to hunt down members of the Lord’s Resistance Army rebel group, a military official said Friday.

Authorities have notified the African Union of plans to withdraw the 2,500 or so troops before the end of this year, Ugandan military spokesman Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda told The Associated Press.

Ankunda said the rebel group no longer poses a threat to Uganda, where the rebels’ presence once forced millions of people to live in camps for the displaced.

“The rebels have been sufficiently degraded,” he said.

The Ugandan soldiers are operating in the jungles of Central African Republic under the AU mission, supported by U.S. special forces.

LRA leader Joseph Kony is wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity and war crimes.

He is believed to be hiding in Kafia Kingi, a Sudanese-controlled enclave on the border of Central African Republic and South Sudan. Watchdog groups have described Kafia Kingi as a safe haven for Kony because African troops hunting for him do not have access to the territory.

One of Kony’s former lieutenants, Dominic Ongwen, was arrested in Central African Republic last year and sent to face trial at The Hague.

The LRA, which originated in Uganda in the 1980s as a tribal uprising against the government, became well-known for kidnapping children to become fighters and forcing girls to be sex slaves.

The group is reportedly in decline, with many of its fighters surrendering or killed in firefights with African troops.