FIGHT AGAINST LORD’S RESISTANCE ARMY, LRA

Since 14 November 2011, in accordance with a Security Council Statement (S/PRST/2011/21), the coordination of UN efforts in the fight against the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) remains one of the main activities of UNOCA. Particularly, the Security Council encouraged UNOCA to "work with the UN missions and the [African Union (AU)] to develop a regional strategy for international humanitarian, development and peacebuilding assistance in the LRA-affected area". It also emphasized the importance of the regional strategy, underlining that it would enhance "cross-border mechanisms to improve civilian protection, early warning capacity, humanitarian access and response, and appropriate reintegration support for those returning from displacement, abductees and ex-combatants, as well as strengthening the overall capacity of affected States to extend their authority throughout their respective territories".

UNOCA worked tirelessly with various stakeholders to develop and adopt this regional strategy which was endorsed by the Security Council in June 2012. Since then, UNOCA has been working with UN Offices, Missions, Agencies, Programs and Funds based in the affected countries (Central African Republic (CAR), Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Uganda and South Sudan) as well as the UN Headquarters in New York, the Office of the AU Special Envoy for LRA, NGOs and development partners, with a view to ensuring its implementation. In this context, UNOCA also supports the implementation of the "AU Regional Cooperation Initiative for the elimination of the LRA" (RCI-LRA) whose military component, the Regional Task Force, plays a crucial role in this front.

To review and evaluate progress made in the implementation of the anti-LRA strategy, UNOCA organizes a biannual meeting of Focal points in charge of issues related to LRA, considered a "terrorist group" by the African Union. One of the priorities in the strategy is sustainable development of the affected areas. To this end, UNOCA works in collaboration with the AU, the World Bank, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and other specialized international bodies in order to develop a “framework for international efforts to promote the long-term stabilization of formerly LRA-affected areas in South Sudan, the DRC, and the CAR, including through early recovery projects and programs to strengthen community cohesion" (S/SRST/2015/12).