Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief - Projects Assisting War-Affected Youth Northern Uganda

CPAR Projects Assisting War-Affected Youth Northern Uganda

Thanks to new funding secured through the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), CPAR-Uganda is launching two new programs to meet the needs of war-affected communities in the north.

Engaging youth in peacebuilding.

Additional Links

Youth Voice for Peace in Northern Uganda Newsletter

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In February, CPAR began work on a pilot youth and community peacebuilding initiative funded by DFAIT called "By Youth for Youth". The project is intended to enable a broad spectrum of Gulu district youth (internally displaced, returnees, the war-affected, and student populations), to deliver much-needed peer-to-peer support, facilitate positive networking and to capture youth priorities for peacebuilding in their communities.

During the first phase of the project, CPAR identified and recruited 20 youth leaders from communities in Gulu District who assembled at CPAR's office in Gulu for a 10-day intensive training session. CPAR staff, a trainer from the conflict resolution program at Gulu University, and Dr. Stan Kutcher, an expert in war-related psychological trauma in youth and children, trained these youth leaders in peer-to-peer peacebuilding techniques. Dr. Kutcher's added expertise in assisting youth to identify signs of mental trauma amongst their peers during the training is due to the collaboration between CPAR and the International Health Office (IHO) at Dalhousie University for the purposes of the training session. These youth will be joined by their peers as they transfer their learning to organizing youth meetings and activities in their communities. The pilot project will also see the establishment of a Community Youth Support Centre, which will be housed at CPAR's Gulu office.

The project is intended to be a catalyst for a long-term and intensified role for this generation of youth as protected and active contributors towards building a lasting peace in war-ravaged northern Uganda, in which children and youth have been targeted as the conflict's primary victims.

Funding for this program has been provided by Human Security Program and the Stabilization and Reconstruction Task Force (START) at DFAIT.


Youth collaborating on issues	The peacebuilding training team (left-right) Daniel Kamakech (Gulu University Trainer) Katie Orr (IH0-Dalhousie University), Henry Banya (CPAR-Uganda), Evelyn Ogwal (CPAR-Uganda), Douglas Kilama (CPAR-Uganda), Stan Kutcher (IH0-Dalhousie University), Michael Opio (CPAR-Uganda)

Support CPAR's peacebuilding efforts in Northern Uganda.

Responding to Health Needs in Aromo IDP Camp

With funding from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), CPAR will be continuing with efforts to respond to the emergency health needs of IDP camp residents in Lira District. This newly approved project is designed to respond to the most pressing humanitarian needs and concerns of the estimated 34,410 Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in Aromo IDP Camp - currently the most overcrowded and congested camp in the entire region - and among the top five most congested camps in all of Northern Uganda.

This emergency response project will strengthen and restore the local health facility's capacity to provide critical medical, antenatal and vaccination services. In fact, a maternal unit will be completely rehabilitated to support the vital need for supervised maternal care in the camp. Augmenting this with the training and equipping of front-line Village Health Teams (VHT), traditional birth attendants (TBAs) and community vaccinators, this response will help broaden life-saving and preventative interventions in the camps. This response will also address the dire state of unplanned fecal disposal and sanitation through the design and construction of ventilated, improved and lined latrines and the construction of easy-to-maintain bath facilities that do not act as vectors for communicable diseases. The improvement of safe water access will be addressed through the complete rehabilitation of deep wells, as well as through equipping community members to maintain the infrastructure. Food security and vulnerabilities due to large hunger gaps present between food aid distributions will also be addressed specifically in regards to households, which are headed by women, children, and the elderly. It is anticipated that 5,500 households will be able to meet more than 50% of their food needs from their own production, resulting from the distribution of maize, bean, and vegetable seeds and farm tools.

CPAR has experience implementing a similar response in Aloi IDP camp, which faces a strikingly similar congestion and health scenario as CPAR staff have profiled in Aromo. This important undertaking, entitled The Integrated Emergency Health Response Project for War-Affected Internally Displaced Persons in Aromo IDP Camp, is supported by the International Humanitarian Assistance branch at CIDA and through support from CPAR donors.

The following link to IRIN news will provide more in-depth information on the crisis in northern Uganda. http://www.irinnews.org/webspecials/uga_crisis/default.asp

view Map of IDP Camps
including populations