November 30, 2004
War in Uganda Threatens AIDS Successes
World Vision report finds AIDS rates in northern region skyrocketing as a result of civil war
KAMPALA, Uganda -- While Uganda has been cited as an AIDS "success story," its protracted civil war threatens to unravel the country’s dramatic improvements as AIDS rates skyrocket in the country’s northern region, according to a recent report from Christian relief and development organization World Vision.
Since 1991, Uganda has seen HIV infection rates decline from 21.2 percent of the adult population to a current 6.2 percent. However, the 18-year war between the Ugandan government and the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), concentrated in northern Uganda, has increased the HIV rates in parts of the north to 11.9 percent -- nearly double the rest of the country. The report, entitled "Pawns of Politics," offers insight into the impact the Ugandan civil war conflict has had on the northern region’s children and families.
"There’s no place to hide from AIDS," says Rory Anderson, World Vision senior policy advisor and co-author of the report. "Four out of five people in the north have lost their homes. Many women, especially those in the displacement camps find that they can only get food, soap or money in exchange for sex. Girls who are abducted by the LRA are often given to commanders as ‘wives’ and sex slaves. Those who ‘night commute’ and sleep in the cities to avoid abduction are often raped there."
The LRA claims to seek the overthrow of the current Ugandan government and is characterized by attacks on civilians, looting, rape, and the abduction and forced conscription of children into its militias.
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World Vision is a Christian relief and development organization dedicated to helping children and their communities worldwide reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty. World Vision serves the world’s poor - regardless of a person’s religion, race, ethnicity, or gender.
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