At its six-month briefing on the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) last Wednesday, the UN Security Council emphasized that the LRA’s decades-long reign of terror can be stopped if the international community helps the African Union capture fugitive warlord Joseph Kony and his LRA soldiers. The press release, Council statement, and testimonies from Council members during the briefing can all be accessed HERE. 

The Council condemned the LRA’s recruitment and use of children in armed conflict and demanded an immediate end to all such attacks, urging the LRA to release those abducted, and to disarm and demobilize. Notably, the Council statement mentioned reports of the LRA base in Kafia Kingi, which directly references our Hidden in Plain Sight report that was published in April in partnership with The Resolve LRA Crisis Initiative and the Enough Project. The detailed and lengthy report highlights Sudan’s harboring of the LRA in the Kafia Kingi enclave from 2009-2013.

Following the briefing, all 15 members of the Council took the floor to condemn the LRA and express support for strengthened, coordinated efforts to end its vicious attacks. The below video is the statement from current U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice. The full transcript of her statement can be found HERE.

“For almost 3 decades the Lord’s Resistance Army has wreaked havoc and perpetrated mass atrocities on the people of central Africa and the Great Lakes region….Its acts are unconscionable and must be stopped once and for all.”

“Our goal of permanently ending the LRA threat is within reach, but it will require sustained regional leadership and international support.”

“To help bring the LRA’s top commanders to justice, the United States, through the War Crimes Rewards Program, is offering rewards of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest, transfer, or conviction of LRA leaders Joseph Kony, Okot Odhiambo, and Dominic Ongwen.”

“Meanwhile, the LRA continues to wreak havoc in other countries in the region, especially the Democratic Republic of Congo. According to OCHA, the DRC suffered 54 LRA attacks between January and March of this year—the most among LRA-affected countries in the region.”