To date, 22% of children in Northern Uganda are orphans. The Lord Resistance Army’s actions have not only increased the rate of orphans in Northern Uganda but have also hindered the ability of Ugandans to care for orphans. The staggering statistics presented here hardly gives light to the problem; numbers can never truly convey the picture of human suffering in Northern Uganda. The words of an elderly woman living in Northern Uganda portray the true state of the crisis; Her remarks: “the problems of orphans are incomprehensible; they have no clothes, no proper feeding, no access to healthcare services and at night they sleep like dogs in the third world countries”. She continues, “If you see the problems with your own eyes, you feel that it would have been better if the children had died with their parents”.
A situation analysis by Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, and UNICEF Uganda, 2015 reported that Northern Uganda has the poorest health system in the world. Children are most deprived of access to health services such as immunisation against communicable diseases, drugs to treat common diseases, and hospital visitation for health check-up. Furthermore, children hygiene, sanitation, and access to clean drinking water are appallingly poor.
#War #NorthernUganda #Acholiland #Genocide #Acholi #NoddingSyndrome