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Universal Children’s Day: Remembering the Children of Conflict in Northern Uganda

New York, NY

The Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children joins the United Nations and the world community in celebrating Universal Children's Day, to commemorate the adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child (1954) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). The Convention's 54 articles recognize the basic human rights of children under the age of 18, including education, health care and economic opportunity, and grant them additional protections from harm.

A key objective of Universal Children's Day is to increase awareness of the Convention, which has been ratified by more countries than any other international treaty.
With this in mind, the Women's Commission considers today a valuable opportunity to call attention to the plight of displaced children around the world, particularly in northern Uganda.

For 18 years, the region's young people have been inordinately affected by the ongoing civil war the rebel group the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has waged against the Ugandan government. Taking advantage of their increased vulnerability and inadequate government protection, the LRA's tactics have continually targeted children. Since its campaign began, the LRA has repopulated its ranks by abducting an estimated 30,000 young people.

To escape violence and kidnappings, an estimated 44,000 northern Ugandans, mostly children, adolescents and women, have become "night commuters." Rather than risk being attacked in their homes, they walk as far as six miles away to spend evenings in the safety of town centers, returning in the morning to work and attend school. During these nightly trips girls and women are exposed to heightened threats of sexual harassment and assault, increasing their risk of early pregnancy, sexually transmitted disease and psychological trauma.

In its practices of targeting and exploiting the young, the LRA has been in violation of numerous rights ensured by the 1989 Convention. Over the past decade, the Convention has proven to be a valuable tool for promoting the rights of children around the world, but as the situation in northern Uganda demonstrates, much work remains to be done. Governments must make the rights of the child a priority, and take the necessary and immediate measures to uphold them. The Women's Commission urges the LRA and the Government of Sudan to continue toward a peaceful resolution to this conflict.

Universal Children's Day reflects the growing recognition that children are important members of society who need security and opportunities to grow to their full potential.