CAFOD has welcomed the new peace deal signed last weekend between the Ugandan government and the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) with the hope that it will prove a vital step in bringing stability across the whole of East Africa.
The Catholic aid agency hopes the first-ever truce accord between the Ugandan government and the rebel militant group is a major breakthrough in peace talks aimed at bringing to an end a brutal war in the northern part of the country that has raged for almost two decades.
The war is notably horrendous because of the more than 22,000 children who have been abducted to serve as soldiers, as well as the devastating sexual exploitation of women and young girls.
CAFOD's Sudan officer Rob Rees said: "The situation in northern Uganda remains a forgotten tragedy. CAFOD has been working with its Caritas partner at the parish and grass roots level, assisting people who have been forced from their homes and living in the most abject conditions.
"This fragile halt in the violence is a first step in creating security for the thousands of people who want to return home and get back to their normal lives."
The peace accord gives rebel soldiers belonging to the LRA three weeks to assemble at either of two camps under the supervision of the regional government in southern Sudan.
Rees said: "If the deal takes hold, it would be a major breakthrough in bringing peace to the area, and also allows for the opportunity for CAFOD to push forward with its work in peace-building and reconciliation."
CAFOD is hoping that the peace accord in northern Uganda will have a stabilising impact on southern Sudan where fighting spread from the north, as well as safeguard the peace agreement that was signed there in 2005.
The agency is hoping this stability will greatly improve prospects for development across a wide region of East Africa.