Program Details: 
Building Secure Communities

Two decades of brutal conflict between government forces and the Lord's Resistance Army in northern Uganda have taken an unimaginable toll on children and families. Tens of thousands have been killed, and nearly two million displaced to cramped, squalid camps.

While peace talks have stalled, Mercy Corps is continuing to help the Acholi people of northern Uganda as they slowly return home. We also are working with the often-neglected Karamojong people who inhabit the Karamoja region of eastern Uganda to ensure that their needs are met and their voices heard. Through innovative agricultural programs that encourage collaboration and self-sufficiency, we're helping Ugandan families regain a cherished way of life.

Returning to Home — And A Better Life
Mercy Corps is enhancing livelihoods for displaced communities returning to Pader District, Northern Uganda. Our programs include cash-for-work employment, hygiene education and latrine construction. We're also working to strengthen the capacity of local government authorities to serve their constituents. Together these initiatives have already helped 18,000 Ugandans improve their quality of life and become more self-sufficient.

Reviving Rural Economies
A number of Mercy Corps programs are aimed at reviving rural economies. For example, in the West Pader district of northern Uganda we're strengthening producer groups — community organizations through which farmers sell agricultural produce, share equipment and advocate more effectively as a group. Mercy Corps is helping to expand the activities of existing producer groups and establish new groups where none existed. This initiative is laying the foundations for a stronger rural economy in West Pader.

Mercy Corps also is working to restore the basic infrastructure of rural Uganda. Communities have named the reopening of rural access roads their top priority. We are responding with a cash-for-work program that will restore access to markets and reduce travel time to health facilities.

Food Security and Agricultural Projects
Mercy Corps is introducing new food types and cash crops to improve food security and increase agricultural diversification for returning Ugandans. In Northern Uganda, we're providing seed vouchers and tillage services to help internally displaced people replant their abandoned farmland.

We also recognize that without adequate infrastructure such efforts are not sustainable. Therefore, as part of this project, we are drilling wells to supply clean drinking water and constructing pit latrines to improve sanitation. We also are training the returning population in various agricultural improvements, from basic kitchen gardens to more technical training in agri-business and local enterprise development. We are drawing upon the expertise of specialists from Ugandan agricultural research centers to provide this training to groups of farmers.

The farmers are learning such topics as land preparation and good planting techniques. Mercy Corps is also promoting agriculture-related income-generating activities, such as diversifying crops, and improving post harvest handling to increase sales, that will enable people to rebuild their livelihoods.

Building A Lasting Peace
The successful repatriation of displaced people and militant community members is essential to Uganda's stability. Mercy Corps is collaborating with the Pader Peace Forum to build institutional and community capacity to mitigate potential conflict between returnees and former militants as they integrate back into the community.

During the Pader Peace Summit, four advocacy issues were identified as central to this ongoing process. Mercy Corps will join with the local government to focus on these priorities:

• In order to instill trust, the flow of information between the government and the community must be accurate and timely.
• People must be empowered to achieve self-sufficiency through market access and skills training.
• Conflict management must include components to resolve land disputes and negotiate arbitrary boundaries.
• Tree planting, sustainable farming and mine elimination must be part of rebuilding the local environment.

Healthy Practices, Strong Communities
Mercy Corps has secured a five-year, $19 million grant from USAID/FFP to help establish peaceful, healthy and food secure communities in the war-affected areas of northern Uganda. Together with our ongoing efforts to improve livelihoods and sanitation, this project focuses on better health and nutrition for pregnant and lactating women and children under five.

We have combined resources with the International Medical Corps to improve local health district services and community health-seeking behavior. We're using a train-the-trainer approach to educate health center staff in optimal nutritional practices so they can teach these practices to pregnant and lactating mothers and caretakers of young children.