Uprooted Children: Uganda
Night commuters at a shelter in Gulu, northern Uganda
REUTERS/Radu Sigheti
Nearly a million children have been uprooted by the war in northern Uganda where the cult-like rebel Lord's Resistance Army is notorious for abducting and brutalising children.
- There are 935,000 children living in over 200 camps.
- Rebels have kidnapped around 25,000 children.
- Boys are used as soldiers and porters.
- Girls are used as sex slaves.
- Thousands of child "night commuters" walk miles each evening to find places to sleep where they won't be kidnapped.
- "Child mothers" who return from captivity with babies are stigmatised.
"I always had to force myself to go into battle - I never wanted to do that. We were obliged to fight, or be killed by our leaders."
Barnabas, 13, talking to World Vision
Barnabas, 13, talking to World Vision
The Children's War: Uganda