The UN Secretary General said in his report to the Security Council that the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) remains amongst the most persistent perpetrators of grave violations against children.
The report documents violations committed against children and measures taken to address the LRA threat between July 2009 and February 2012.The Special Representative of UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy, said the LRA continues to cast a long shadow across central Africa, causing enormous suffering to children.
She added that she was encouraged by the renewed international attention to the issue and the actions taken to stop all violations against children by the LRA.
Ban Ki-moon’s report praised the efforts by the Uganda People’s Defence Force and the African Union to address the threats posed by the LRA.
He recommended that all military efforts to address the LRA ensure that the protection of civilians is a central aspect of operations, including through the development of standard operating procedures for the handling of children separated from the LRA.
The report said at least 591 children, including 268 girls, were abducted and recruited by the LRA, mostly in DR Congo, in the Central African Republic, and in South Sudan.