The annual cost of the war in northern Uganda.
Overview
What We Do
Founded in March 2007, Grassroots Reconciliation Group (GRG) supports projects that bring together local community members and ex-child soldiers of the LRA who have escaped from rebel captivity. Together, the two groups build relationships and work hand-in-hand on livelihood projects that they design themselves, including communal farming, brick-making, animal husbandry, and volunteering at counseling centers. By supporting these projects, we aim to help the long-term rehabilitation, reconciliation, and economic capacity of the war-weary people of northern Uganda.
Why We Do It
For over twenty years, northern Ugandans have suffered a brutal war between the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Government of Uganda. One of the worst features of the conflict has been the abduction of thousands of children to serve as soldiers in the LRA. At the height of fighting, up to two million people were living in internal displacement camps, vulnerable to hunger, disease, and brutal LRA attacks, which child soldiers were often forced to carry out.
Former soldiers who escape from the LRA usually spend six to eight weeks recovering physically and psychologically in reception centers. GRG helps to meet the extensive need for follow-up with these individuals by strengthening long-term reconciliation between ex-LRA combatants and their communities of return.
Latest News
Jan 19, 2010
Jan 19, 2010
$1.7 billion
1 in 3
The odds that a northern Ugandan boy or young man was abducted by rebels.
189
The number of women in GRG projects.
.22
The chance that an individual abducted by the LRA will not return home.
418
The number of participants in GRG programs.
75 cents
The average daily income for a northern Ugandan youth.
16
The current number of GRG group farming projects.
23
The number of years that war has persisted in northern Uganda.
12-17
The main target age for LRA abductions.
8
The number of communities with current GRG projects.
3
The current number of GRG micro-loan projects.
66,000
The number of youth and children abducted by LRA rebels in northern Uganda, many of whom were forced to kill.
1 in 10
The rate at which babies die before their first birthday in northern Uganda.
5
The number of arrest warrants for crimes against humanity and war crimes issued by the International Criminal Court against LRA leaders.
139
Number of 13 to 16-year-old girls abducted in a raid of an all-girls school and given to LRA commanders as "wives".
1.8 million
The number of people who lost their homes at height of northern Uganda’s war.
90.3
The percentage of GRG’s expenditures that go directly to programs in Uganda.
1 in 3
The number of female youth who are able to read and write in northern Uganda.
900,000
Number of people who remain in displacement camps in northern Uganda.
1 in 6
The odds that a northern Ugandan girl or woman was abducted by rebels.
8
The first age at which a child becomes vulnerable to abduction by the LRA.
50
The percentage of LRA commanders who have had more than five forced wives.
6
The current number of GRG brick-making projects.
150
The number of former child soldiers and ex-combatants in GRG projects.