Greater security in northern Uganda enables Emergency Relief Coordinator to overnight in IDP camp

(Bunia, Gulu and New York: 9 September 2006): United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland arrived today in the town of Gulu in northern Uganda, on the second leg of his eight-day, three-nation mission to Africa.

Immediately upon arrival, Mr. Egeland travelled to Opit camp for internally displaced people, southeast of Gulu, where he will spend the night, participating in a traditional gathering and sharing an evening meal with the camp's inhabitants. Mr. Egeland is one of the first United Nations personnel ever to spend the night in this IDP, which reflects the improvement in security conditions which the ongoing peace negotiations between the Government of Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has brought to the region.

"The peace talks bring great hope for safe return and rebuilding of Acholi and Ugandan society," stressed Mr. Egeland upon his arrival.

While at Opit camp, the Emergency Relief Coordinator is also scheduled to meet with a group of demobilized ex-combatants and with a group of women and children, former LRC abductees. On Sunday, Mr. Egeland will return to Gulu, where he is expected to visit a psycho-social health facility and meet with representatives of the Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative (ARLPI) and district authorities. He will also meet with representatives of the United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in northern Uganda.

Prior to his arrival in Gulu, Mr. Egeland concluded the Democratic Republic of the Congo leg of his mission by visiting a centre for demobilized girls, many of whom had suffered from sexual abuse, as well as Gety IDP camp in Ituri province. In Gety camp, Mr. Egeland was able to review the work of the joint United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)/Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Rapid Response Mechanism, established to help provide urgent assistance to newly displaced people.

The Emergency Relief Coordinator is expected to conclude his mission to Uganda by travelling to the capital, Kampala, tomorrow evening. He is then expected to proceed to Juba, in South Sudan, where he will follow-up on the peace negotiations between the Government of Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), before concluding his mission in Nairobi, Kenya, on 12 September.

For further information, please call: Stephanie Bunker, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 5126, mobile +1 917 892 1679; Kristen Knutson, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 9262; Elisabeth Byrs, OCHA-Geneva, +41 22 917 2653, mobile, +41 79 473 4570. OCHA press releases are available at http://ochaonline.un.org or www.reliefweb.int.