OUR NEEDS
Here are some obstacles we have to overcome everyday...Lack of food
Lack of funds
Lack of buildings
Lack of vehicles
Lack of machines
and much more.
Learn how you can help today!
WELCOME to NUCBACD.org
Northern Uganda Community Based Action for Children with Disabilities
MISSION STATEMENT
NUCBACD strives to create awareness on the human rights of disabled children in Northern Uganda, and improve on their lives.VISION
A society that naturally treats children with disabilities with human dignity, one that cares for their basic needs and that defends their human rights.
NORTHERN UGANDA
The Republic of Uganda is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by Tanzania. The southern part of the country includes a substantial portion of Lake Victoria, which is also bordered by Kenya and Tanzania.Uganda takes its name from the Buganda kingdom, which encompassed a portion of the south of the country including the capital Kampala. Half the population of the country live below the international poverty line of US$1.25 a day. Learn more about Uganda.
Kitgum District is a district in northern Uganda. It is named after its 'chief town' of Kitgum, where the district headquarters is located.
Kitgum is one of Uganda's fastest growing urban areas. In 2002, the population of the town was estimated at 45,500 with an annual growth rate of 10%. With those statistics, it is estimated that the population of the town in 2009 is approximately 87,694.
Gulu, Kitgum, Pader were the worst districts affected by the recent war in Northern Uganda.
At Independence in 1962, the King of Buganda from central Uganda became the first President with Milton Obote as Prime Minister, a Lango from the North. However soon after, the King was overthrown by the Army Chief, Idi Amin, ordered by Obote. In 1971, Obote himself was overthrown by Idi Amin, originally from West (Nile) of Uganda. Amin therefore feared the citizen of the North. Since Amin took power, and for eight years, any opposition would be forced to silence in the most horrific forms.
In 1980, elections were organized and the Milton Obote’s Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) was declared winner and Obote II regime began. In 1981, Musevini went to the “bush” and created the National Resistance Army (NRA) in response to the new regime in place. Obote’s Government was now faced with Guerrilla warfare. The NRA received considerable local support and therefore the government army treated most civilians in central/west north as collaborators. During this time, most of the citizens of central Uganda (Luwero) were pushed into camps by the Government. In 1986, Musevini reached power, and various rebel groups in the North emerged to fight against his regime.
Alice Lakwana was at the head of one of the rebel groups called the Holy Spirit Mobile Forces (HSMF). Alice’s movement proved to be extraordinarily effective. She prayed with her followers at special sites, and anointed then in oil, promising that if they were pure, bullets would not penetrate them. Alice was believed to possess great spiritual powers, in which her followers strongly believed in. However, after a trip she undertook with her followers in the South, she left towards Kenya. Her movement became the founder of another rebel group which emerged the Lord Resistance Army (LRA).
The LRA was led by Joseph Kony who claimed to have kinship with Alice. Like Alice, followers of Kony believed him to be in possession of spiritual powers. Unable to attract volunteers to fight, the LRA abducted children and young adults which became one of the most well known features of the war in the North. Usually the LRA attacked at night, and to avoid abductions, thousands of youth people commuted to the bigger towns or to the centers of camps in the evening, sleeping in schools, dispensaries, shops or at Catholics missions. During this time, aid organizations established night commuter centers for children as they were the main target of the LRA. At night, children often walked hours to reach a safe place to sleep, carrying their blankets. They were known as the night commuters.
In order to fight the LRA, an anti-insurgency policy was established in 1996 by the government which displaced thousands of civilians in the North into Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps. These camps were overcrowded and in unsanitary conditions.
Between 1987 and 2006, nearly 2 million people were displaced, and tens of thousands of youth kidnapped or killed by the LRA.
Abducted children often had to kill their own families and communities, a well known practice by LRA preventing the abductees to return home. Children have also been victims of various tortures, which left many traumatized, though resilience has been witnessed as well among the affected youth. Some children had their members cut off, their ears, lips, nose, arms or legs by the Lord Resistance Army. Based on the number of children who have passed through the reception centers, the UN estimated that 20’000 to 25’000 children had been abducted by the LRA. However the SWAY report (*) suggests that an estimated 66’000 children between 14 and 30 had been kidnapped by Joseph Kony rebel group.
The children of NUCBACD are survivors of the war and are today still, discriminated against due to their disability.
Peace and Hope for the Future