At an ordination ceremony a couple of weeks ago, Archbishop John Baptist Odama suggested that anyone attempting to disrupt the Juba peace process ought to be shunned. Longtime advocate for peace and winner of AFJN’s 2006 Faith and Justice Award, Odama insisted that “it is time for peace, unity, reconciliation and forgiveness so that internally displaced persons can go home to cultivate their land.” The past several weeks have seen little movement in the direction of an agreement in northern Uganda as both sides seem to lack the appropriate incentives to begin the reconciliation process.

At an event this week organized by ENOUGH, Invisible Children, Resolve Uganda , and the United States Institute of Peace, six panelists joined their efforts to rally support for the people of Northern Uganda.  Together, they called for the United States to dispatch a senior diplomat to Juba and act in direct support of the peace talks between the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and the Government of Uganda.  In addition to long-involved Uganda advocates Betty Bigombe and John Prendergast were some newer voices, including Laren Poole and former AFJN staff member, Michael Poffenberger, who have done much to assemble the younger people in solidarity with their Ugandan peers.  Also present were actors Melissa Fitzgerald and Ryan Gosling, who have successfully used their celebrity to draw attention to those affected by the conflict in Northern Uganda. 

Peter Quaranto, of Uganda Conflict Action Network (UgandaCan) just published a policy brief on the situation in northern Uganda that can be found at this website .

Also, UgandaCAN, including former AFJN staffer, Michael Poffenberge, and AFJN intern, Desiree Fair, has recently launched a new campaign entitled, ‘Resolve Uganda’, which aims to unite all the efforts of citizens concerned about the crisis in northern Uganda and offer even more opportunities to take action.

The website was recently launched as a 'work in progress.' It will provide visitors a variety of ways of getting involved in the effort to raise the profile of the conflict in northern Uganda and hopefully facilitate a rapid and peaceful resolution to the violence and the displacement of people.

For more information visit: www.resolveuganda.org.