Blog Updates and inspiration

Last month, our friends in Obo, Central African Republic (CAR) celebrated International Day of the African Child with a day full of special events. In support of locally-led efforts to foster peace and prevent violence in the region, our Invisible Children team in Obo worked alongside community leaders and other international organizations to help coordinate […]

Since March, we’ve been reporting information on rising violence collected via our Early Warning Radio Network in central Africa. Just this week, we released our LRA Crisis Tracker Midyear Security Brief, which summarizes trends in armed group violence in eastern Central African Republic (CAR) and neighboring areas of northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) so […]

Sectarian tensions steadily escalated in eastern Central African Republic (CAR) in the first six months of 2017. In June, violence spread from Haut Kotto and Mbomou prefectures into the communities of Zemio and Mboki in neighboring Haut Mbomou prefecture. Attacks by ex-Seleka, anti-balaka, and armed Peuhl have killed at least 346 civilians in the three prefectures since January […]

On July 11, 2010, 74 people were killed in a series of terrorist bombings in Kampala, Uganda.  One of those killed was an American named Nate Henn. He was our friend. Before his death, Nate had dedicated almost two years of his life as a volunteer roadie with Invisible Children. In the spring of 2010, Nate led a […]

In 2014, when he was seven years old, Sam* and several other members of his community were abducted by a group of Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) fighters as they were headed for a field outside their community in a remote corner of northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Although many of those abducted with […]

Last month, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs held a hearing to discuss U.S. interests in Africa and the ways in which the U.S. can play a role in stabilizing critical regions, including areas of central Africa where Invisible Children’s work takes place. At the hearing, investigative reporter Bryan Christy of National […]

A Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) group crossed the border from Central African Republic (CAR) into northern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in May 2017, abducting at least 23 people in a series of attacks on civilians en route to Garamba National Park. In eastern CAR, violence by armed groups against civilians escalated dramatically in May, with ex-Seleka […]

Earlier this week, the United Nations (UN) Security Council met to discuss MINUSCA, the UN’s peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic (CAR), as well as the UN office responsible for coordinating regional responses to the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) crisis. Much of the Council’s conversations centered around eastern CAR, where communities have experienced an […]

One year ago this month, a group of Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) fighters released 12 women and children, handing them over to one of our local partners in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The LRA group also passed along a message that they would release more captives if the 12 women and children were […]

In the last decade, hundreds of individuals have escaped or been released from captivity in Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). Some have been women and children, released in large groups by LRA commanders. Many were held captive for a few days, forced to porter goods looted from their own homes. Hundreds were held captive […]