Resolve Launches Major Policy Report
February 21, 2012 by Michael
Categories - From the Team
Last year, we sent Resolve team member Paul Ronan on a three-month trip to visit some of the remotest parts of central Africa where the LRA is committing attacks against vulnerable communities. Today, we launched a major policy report based on his research. The report, called “Peace Can Be: President Obama’s Chance to Help End LRA Violence in 2012,” argues that President Obama’s decision to deploy military advisers to central Africa has created an unprecedented – but likely limited – window of opportunity to see LRA atrocities finally ended in 2012.
You can read the full press release here and download a copy of the report here.
Paul’s field research found that LRA forces are likely comprised of no more than 200-300 fighters and commanders, down from as many as 10,000 in the 1990’s. But they have been skillful in adapting and evading the efforts of regional governments to defeat them, and are now traveling in small groups dispersed across an area the size of France. After a military surge led by the Ugandan government reduced the LRA’s core capacity in 2009, regional efforts have since faltered, allowing a small number of LRA fighters to have an outsize impact on the civilian population. Today, more than 465,000 people are displaced by LRA attacks in the border areas among the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of South Sudan, and the Central African Republic.
The report commends the United States for its leadership of international efforts for peace. But for President Obama’s LRA strategy to succeed, it argues that it will be critical to not only sustain the deployment of U.S. advisors until the LRA is no longer a threat to civilians, but also augment that decision with a number of other equally important measures. Those include:
1 – High-level diplomacy, in partnership with the African Union, to overcome a breakdown in cooperation among regional governments;
2 – Deployment of helicopters to help regional military respond to reports of LRA attacks and movements; and
3 – Investments in civilian infrastructure, including early warning systems, and programs focused on securing peaceful defections from LRA ranks to complement military investments being made.
Check out the full report here, and as always, a thank you to the Resolve Cosponsors whose generosity makes our work possible!
- Michael
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