Context

Emergency

The Karamoja region presents some of the worst social indicators of any other region in Uganda. Lack of development and poverty are partly the result of widespread insecurity in the area and causes are linked to a long tradition of cattle theft and long-term negligence on the part of subsequent governments. The general situation in the region has been exacerbated by cyclical droughts that have led to food insecurity and have made thousands of people dependent on aid.

Insecurity has been one of the major obstacles to any development effort in the area. The situation remains unpredictable because of the widespread possession of weapons and violent breeding of livestock. Social disruption in Karamoja, in the form of cattle slaughtering and prolonged famine, along with the disarmament program have made the region a very difficult place to live, forcing many vulnerable children and young women to seek other safe places. Many of them end up living in the streets of Kampala and other urban areas of Mbale, Toroto, Buisa, Iganga and Jinja. This migration is a relatively new phenomenon that has exacerbated in recent years, becoming a complex problem that continues to be very unpredictable. In this context, it was necessary to intervene through a child protection program developed in Karamoja, with special attention to the communities in the western district of Moroto, where most people migrate out of the region. Taking into account the high risks to which "returnees" are exposed, the program aims to focus on everything about their safety when they return home and their stay at the transit center and throughout the process of Return to both the villages of origin and the new locations found. All the "recruits" need care, support in the primary needs (food, housing, health and clothing). They are vulnerable to any kind of abuse.

The second project was born to give concrete and immediate response to the famine that struck the Karamoja region. This area has been subject to severe droughts over a long period of time. Towards August 2007, food production and availability were further affected by unusual floods that damaged crops, such as sorghum and millet production, with massive rainforests in the green bushes and fertile areas that originally supplied the region's grocery grains . In addition, market surveys from December 2007 to April 2008 found that the price of sorghum in the districts of Nakapiripirit and Moroto increased by 56%, that of maize by 32%, and the beans had an increase of 43%. This situation has left the population of these areas affected by extreme poverty without any possibility of survival with a food security situation classified as Humanitarian Emergency (characterized by a variety of inability to access food with the populace used to feed on roots, wild fruit And leaves).

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