EMERGENCY RELIEF COORDINATOR VISITS PATANGO DISPLACEMENT CAMP IN UGANDA

EMERGENCY RELIEF COORDINATOR VISITS PATANGO DISPLACEMENT CAMP IN UGANDA

NEW YORK, 1 April (OCHA) -- The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland, today travelled to Pader district in northern Uganda, where he visited Patango camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs).  He was accompanied by representatives of the United Nations, including Welile Nhlapo, Director, Africa I Division, United Nations Department of Political Affairs.

Camp leaders highlighted their most pressing concerns to the Emergency Relief Coordinator, underlining the need for improved water and sanitation -- the main killer of IDPs in the camp -- lack of adequate health facilities and education.  Mr. Egeland and Mr. Nhlapo also met privately with a group of more than 30 women residents of the camp, who told them that fear was at the very centre of their lives.  Some of the women had had between one and four of their children abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), with the latest abductions taking place as recently as December 2005.

On a walk through the camp, the Emergency Relief Coordinator held further discussions with community leaders, met representatives of the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Medair, and visited a health clinic operated by Médecins sans frontières and International Medical Corps (IMC).  The NGOs stated that malaria and HIV/AIDS are serious concerns, with higher HIV/AIDS prevalence rates than in the rest of the country.  The Emergency Relief Coordinator appreciated the work the NGOs were doing in the clinic, while recognizing the need for further health care, as well.

After returning to Pader town, Mr. Egeland met United Nations authorities and NGO representatives from Pader, Lira, Kitgum and Gulu districts of northern Uganda.  The main concerns that the NGOs highlighted were the need for improved security, conflict resolution, camp management, and increased available land so that people can help feed themselves.

“The more than 30 NGOs working in northern Uganda have made a real difference in meeting the humanitarian needs of the displaced”, Mr. Egeland said.  “Much more is being done now, compared to two years ago -- but the international community must do still more”, he said.  “Most importantly, we need to see better security and protection for the displaced”, he stressed.

The Emergency Relief Coordinator also met ex-LRA combatants in Pader town.  He underscored the need to do much more to encourage demobilization, reintegration and national reconciliation of ordinary fighters, but also emphasized that the highest commanders of the LRA -- those indicted by the International Criminal Court -- must be brought to justice.

Mr. Egeland will tomorrow travel to Juba in southern Sudan, where he will meet with senior governmental and United Nations representatives and visit an IDP way station, before travelling onwards to Bor, where Dinka IDPs are arriving as part of the ongoing organized return process.  He will then travel to West Darfur.  From Darfur, the mission will continue to Chad, where Mr. Egeland will visit a Sudanese refugee camp in the east of the country and meet with local authorities and United Nations officials.  From Chad, Mr. Egeland will return to Khartoum, Sudan, where he will meet with senior officials of the Sudanese Government, the United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS), and the United Nations country team.  On the final day of the mission, Mr. Egeland will travel to Nairobi, Kenya.

For additional information, contact:  Kristen Knutson, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Advocacy and Public Information Section, tel: + 1 917 367 9262, e-mail: knutson@un.org.

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For information media • not an official record