This morning, staff member Carl Stevens met up with our International Programs Director, Adam Finck, to discuss the recent attacks by Joseph Kony’s LRA in South Sudan and what Invisible Children is doing to respond to this situation. As one of the leading experts in the LRA conflict, Adam was able to share some of the most accurate and updated information about attacks and the role Flash Alerts play in funding these time-sensitive missions.
Carl Stevens: How did we find out about the attacks in the first place?
Adam Finck: Normally when an attack like this happens, we’ll find out through a large network comprised of HF radios and through community contacts. We have over 70 communities reporting any LRA activity twice a day, plus a wide network of communications contacts in touch with our staff daily. On the day of the attack, a church alerted our staff that the LRA had attacked two kilometers away.
Why are Flash Alerts so important?
With an attack like this, responding quickly is EVERYTHING since we know exactly where this LRA group is. We know which direction they are moving, and there is a limited window of time in which we can respond. We can uniquely target this group, so speed is everything. While money is being raised, the team on the ground is getting the airplane ready, printing the fliers, and preparing to target the group effectively.
Can you give examples of the success of past Flash Alerts?
We had our first Flash Alert in May after a group of LRA left a note in DR Congo saying that they want to come out and surrender. After we funded a Flash Alert in response to that group, the guy in the LRA who wrote that note found a flier and surrendered peacefully – with the flier in his hand – on September 15. Through Opondo’s story, we see the effectiveness and impact of this Flash Alert campaigns.
For someone who doesn’t understand what a defection flier is, would you say it’s like a postcard or baseball card showing the way home?
It’s fascinating because these LRA groups are so remote they don’t have access to news back home, and they don’t have information about people who left their group. So when, all of a sudden, they find “postcards” of their friends and family who used to be in the LRA but are now at home, it’s a huge draw for LRA members to learn what is happening back home and attempt to escape. In an area with limited communication, it has a massive impact.
We drop fliers in known areas of specific groups with targeted messages to that group with the goal that even a handful of people take it as a sign that they can escape, right?
Yes, one thing I think people should know is that right now the LRA are incredibly desperate and many of them feel as though their only choice is to run away or to continue to stay with the LRA. We want to provide them with an alternative option. Defection messaging gives them the option of returning home with specific instructions on how to escape. These instructions show them clearly that when they surrender, they will be treated well and taken home to their family. By dropping these fliers, you’re giving a clear alternative and saying that they don’t have to continue to suffer and fight – that you can come home and return to normalcy.
Thanks for your time, sir.
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