Check out the thousands of Cover the Night photos sent in from around the world at ctn.kony2012.com.

Advocacy in London (2009)

*This page will be updated frequently in the coming weeks to offer more specific action steps for certain countries.

Every country can do more support international efforts to stop LRA violence. Ask your leaders to go on the record committing new resources to the effort — whether through public statements, social media, or whatever.

In the short time since KONY 2012 was released, the United Nations and African Union announced that they will launch an ambitious new strategy to stop LRA atrocities and help the communities in central Africa most affected by the violence. This plan embodies a truly comprehensive approach to addressing the conflict, something activists have consistently advocated for. It includes strengthened regional efforts to locate and arrest Kony, protect vulnerable communities, and prevent abuses by military forces themselves. It aims to help people abducted by Kony’s forces to escape and return to their homes and families. And it seeks to address the underlying factors that have allowed this violence to continue for so long by ensuring that governments in affected countries cooperate to solve this problem and by helping communities in LRA-affected areas to rebuild and heal from years of conflict.

But the reality is that without serious commitments from world leaders, this plan won’t have the resources it needs to succeed where past efforts have fallen short. That’s where Cover the Night – and you – come in.

Participants will engage directly with political leaders and demand that they dedicate increased resources to help bring Kony to justice and restore communities being torn apart by LRA violence. Through social media, letters, phone calls, and other actions, activists will seek commitments from world leaders to support the new international strategy to address the crisis. In particular, activists are asking world leaders to provide increased resources to fund this plan, especially for a few of the most important – and concrete – components:

  1.  Supporting civilian protection measures that protect communities from LRA attack by building mobile phone towers and early warning networks in the remote areas where the LRA operates so that communities can be prepared when the LRA threatens to attack.
  2. Increase the capacity of regional efforts by providing helicopters and logistical support to help the African Union operation succeed in arresting Kony and senior LRA commanders and protecting the communities most vulnerable to LRA attacks and abductions.
  3. Encourage peaceful defection by expanding local FM radio coverage “come-home” and programs that encourage LRA fighters and abductees in the bush to escape and encourage local communities to receive them peacefully.

Already, KONY 2012 is having an impact. By making Joseph Kony famous, political leaders have a new incentive to do something to stop him and bring to justice one of our world’s worst war criminals. In addition to the African Union and United Nations announcing a new plan to address the issue, 92 Members of the U.S. Congress have already sponsored a resolution calling for President Obama to increase U.S. efforts. Members of Congress have also committed to expand funding for civilians programs in LRA-affected areas and to pass new U.S. legislation that would authorize a financial reward for information that leads to Kony’s capture.