Grains of hope for Gulu’s war victims

Sep 16, 2003

The World Food Programme (WFP) provides thousands of tonnes of much-needed food aid to the Internally Displaced people (IDP) of northern Uganda every month. WFP co-ordinator for the region, Padro B. Amolat spoke to The New Vision’s <b>Stuart Price</b> about their distribution work and the desperat

QUESTION:What exactly does the World Food Programme do here in northern Uganda?

Answer:WFP is very strong in working with Governments although we are politically impartial. In Uganda the suffering is unbearable, especially for the children. I spent 12 years working for WFP in Afghanistan, but I have never seen ‘Night Commuters’ before –– people sleeping rough through fear of abduction. WFP is a model relief agency for other NGOs. We are at the frontline and the biggest in northern Uganda. We have the courage to stand up and bring relief to the people. The majority of food aid comes from our relief. There are few other NGOs operating in Camps but we are the ones reaching out. If there is fighting, gunfire or abduction, the people in the camps live with it. Over the years, our staff have coped because without our help, these people will starve.
Sometimes there are various problems and we have to abort the mission. There have been moments when convoys have become stuck. If there has been heavy rain, the roads are bad. You get stuck. But we sympathise with the people and this is why we do it. This is our mission, this is our purpose.


Working in a combat zone, have you ever experienced attacks or ambushes by the LRA?

Our convoys have not suffered attack by the LRA. It is almost as if there is an informal rule of engagement. The rebels will not fire on the convoy and the army will not fire back. There was a small civilian truck following the convoy on one occasion, keeping some distance back from the last vehicle.
When the convoy passed and the rebels saw the trailing truck was not part of the convoy, they attacked and burnt that vehicle.


Is WFP’s work enough to address the major humanitarian crises caused as a result of this conflict?

The International and National community are facing an enormous challenge in the camps. Due to the insecurity, very few NGOs are distributing on a regional basis. Food is a necessity of life, but water, education, hygiene and sanitation are a huge problem in the camps. The needs are so enormous, yet there is still an urgent need to create support in the region, in Uganda and in the International Community.


What more could or needs to be done to seriously address these issues?

This is an almost forgotten war. Let the media continue on a regular basis to project that people are suffering, that the children are suffering the most. You see, poverty and squalor; the environment has been destroyed.
We need to open the world’s hearts, minds and wallets. WFP is trying to help these people, but the need is greater than just food. We have been inviting other NGOs to bring non-food items: seeds, tools, clothing, medicine and education. The needs are enormous. We do not get tired. It is the only way. We must have courage. The message is getting through slowly. People read about this conflict in the newspapers but it does not enter their lives. Northern Uganda is isolated; there is an enormous contrast between the suffering of the people in the north and the land of plenty in the south. There is a lack of opportunity for these people; the local economy is depressed.


You mentioned the enormous suffering experienced by the children in camps, is WFP specifically targeting this?

The WFP is not just distributing food, we are addressing the issue of IDP. Children have a better existence through our feeding programmes. In the camps, a family has one main meal at 4:00pm. The children normally go without food in the morning before school, unless there are leftovers. So, our school-feeding programme has been successful. It is our part to provide the food. School feeding is very nutritious; there is oil, corn and rice. However, as a result, pre-school children are going to school simply because of the feeding.

You have many volunteers working in the field, where are they from?

Ninety percent of the workers (volunteers) are Acholi and most are university students. Their work is to help the people and despite the dangers, they want to go out into the field and to the camps.


In the camps, when the food aid is distributed, there is an overwhelming majority of female beneficiaries, why is this?

I would say that 95% of those collecting food are women, the men are few. In 17 years of constant war, many have joined the forces and many have perished. The women here are strong, the sacks of food weigh 50kg and are carried on the head, the women of Acholi are very strong.”


Apart from the desperate need for food aid, what are some of the other problems experienced by the inhabitants of the IDP camps?

There are many social problems as a result of long years of war. The people have nothing to do, many of them drink. There is a high birth rate and an even higher number of single mothers and female-headed households. The continuous abduction has contributed to men being taken away. There is a lot of idle time resulting in increased promiscuity and it is very difficult to have a normal marriage. Another problem is HIV/AIDS. In Gulu district, the infection rate is 12%, but the national rate is only 6%. All of these problems coming out of the camps manifest the suffering caused by the war.

How do you see the future of the situation here?

There is abject poverty in the camps and there has been a long term damage caused to the environment. The people need to be trained on how to use resources properly like cutting branches for firewood, not the whole tree. It is about energy efficiency.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});