An article in Uganda's Monitor newspaper recently examined efforts by the government to provide antiretroviral drugs to HIV-positive people in the country. Although approximately 120,000 HIV-positive Ugandans need antiretrovirals, only about 13,000 are expected to be on treatment by November, according to Dr. Elizabeth Namagala, who is in charge of antiretrovirals for the country's Ministry of Health, the Monitor reports.

ACORD, an international NGO working in over 20 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, has just produced a report of research carried out in Northern Uganda and Burundi to gain insight into both the causes and consequences of HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination. The research produced evidence of alarming levels of stigma and discrimination suffered by individuals, their carers and families in both countries. Ignorance and fear compounded by cultural and religious taboos were found to be at the root of such attitudes and behaviours. Reluctance to be tested or seek counselling and/or rejection by service providers are among the key consequences confirming that stigma and discrimination act as a major barrier to accessing services and treatment.

The Parliamentary Briefer is prepared to inform organisations, particularly Civil Society Organisations, what is happening in Parliament in order to encourage more timely engagement with legislative and other processes. If you would like to be added to the list, please send an email to [email protected]

UNICEF in Uganda urged civilian and military authorities responsible for receiving 47 formerly abducted children - repatriated from southern Sudan by the International Organization for Migration, after their abduction by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) - to ensure the children’s rights remain protected. The 47 individuals, reportedly including 12 under the age of 8, were abducted from their families by the LRA during the ongoing armed conflict in northern Uganda.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda and Uganda have agreed to disarm groups operating in their territories within a year as a way to pacify the region and attend to an issue that has been source of disagreements between the three countries. At a tripartite meeting held on Wednesday in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, and mediated by the US government, the three countries also agreed to establish a permanent commission to implement the disarmament process that was agreed upon in a 1999 agreement that was meant to end a war in the DRC as well as to address fears of neighbouring countries.

The Ugandan Government has filed a notice of appeal against the High Court ruling that quashed the report on corruption in the Ugandan Revenue Authority. Justice of the High Court John Katutsi nullified the report in a ruling on 16th August, describing it as a "naked report without any legal clothing." The Chief Commissioner of the report, Julie Ssebutinde had opposed Katutsi's ruling saying that he had no jurisdiction to nullify her report.

On December 22, 2002, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni paid a ceremonial visit to a textile plant in Kampala, his country's capital city. Two years later the government-subsidized textile factory, built to be an exemplar for the rest of the nation, has suffered worker unrest, as politicians allege exploitation and government corruption. Museveni may still believe, as he once said, that the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act is "the greatest act of fraternity towards Africa by the USA." But to many Ugandans, their country's experience has become an object lesson in the bruising realities of life in the global marketplace.

In June 2003, the Refugee Law Project published Working Paper No. 9,"Education of Refugees in Uganda: Relationships Between Setting and Access." This report related the findings from the first year of a longitudinal study that follows the same schools, teachers, pupils, and families over a three-year period.

Insecurity and widespread poverty caused by the 18-year warfare pitting government forces against insurgents in northern Uganda has made desperate children vulnerable to recruitment as rebel fighters, the United Nations children's Fund (UNICEF) said. "The poverty and insecurity in northern Uganda could make children vulnerable to recruitment into the armed forces," UNICEF's protection officer in Gulu, Rebecca Symington, told IRIN by telephone from the northern town. Many of the children, she added, saw fighting as a form of employment and saw the carrying of arms as the only way to protect themselves and others.

At least 25 hippopotami have died of a mysterious disease in Uganda's sprawling Queen Elizabeth National Park, authorities said Sunday. "We have sent experts to get samples from the carcasses and live ones to investigate the cause of these strange deaths," the Uganda Wildlife Authority's executive director Arthur Mugisha told AFP by telephone.

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni recently asked the International Criminal Court at The Hague to investigate and prosecute rebels and rebel leader Joseph Kony of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). To anyone who is unfamiliar with the war in Northern Uganda that started in 1986 when Museveni had just come to power, Museveni's quest to prosecute Kony might sound like a sound idea coming from a responsible person. However, to those who have suffered through the years and experienced atrocities perpetrated by both the rebels and the Ugandan army, the Uganda People's Defense Forces (UPDF), Museveni is just as criminal as the Kony he is trying to prosecute.

Insecurity and widespread poverty caused by the 18-year warfare pitting government forces against insurgents in northern Uganda has made desperate children vulnerable to recruitment as rebel fighters, the United Nations children's Fund (UNICEF) said. "The poverty and insecurity in northern Uganda make children vulnerable to recruitment into the armed forces. In this region, there is active recruitment of the youth," UNICEF's protection officer in Gulu, Rebecca Symington, told IRIN by telephone from the northern town.

A majority of Ugandans want the constitutional limit of two five-year presidential terms to stay, a new national poll shows. Some 68.8 % of respondents say presidential term limits should remain, while 31.2 percent want them removed. The poll was commissioned by The Monitor and Strategic Public Relations & Research Limited of Nairobi conducted it throughout the country from August 1-5.

The Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI) has condemned the highhanded manner in which Bugiri resident district commissioner, Isaac Lulaaba, allegedly broke up a National Freedom Party rally by using firearms at the weekend. The FHRI spokesperson, Wendy Kasujja, said in a statement that the use of force on a peaceful crowd was uncalled for and urged the government to refrain from such practices.

The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) has received over Ushs 3 billion (USD1.7m) from the country's three telecom operators towards its Rural Communication Development Fund. Under the Communications Act each provider of ICT services has to contribute 1% of their annual revenue to the Fund. Announcing receipt of the money, the Commission's Director said that their target was for every district to have, amongst other services, an Internet point of presence and ICT training centres by the end of the year.

The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) last Thursday embarked on an exercise to register afresh all refugees in Uganda using a computerised database system that officials say would improve monitoring and identification. "We are compiling the first ever refugee computer database in Uganda, where all refugees' details including their photographs will be recorded," Dennis Duncan, UNHCR spokesman in Kampala told IRIN.

Council for Economic Empowerment for Women of Africa (CEEWA-U)

CEEWA-U is seeking applicants for the position of Programme Officer - Finance. The Officer will be responsible for fundraising activities, monitoring and evaluating programs and for representing CEEWA-U at selected workshops and network meetings. The successful applicant will be a graduate with experience in policy advocacy and research and at least three years of experience working with NGOs/CSOs, preferably in the field of human rights.

“If the American demonstrations are sometimes ignored by their own mainstream media, who are we, scattered all over villages in Africa, to expect our issues to attract their screens and cameras?” This question was what inspired Isis-Women’s International Cross-Cultural Exchange (Isis-WICCE), to resort to the convergence of media and communication to advance its agenda. The urgent task was to develop mechanisms that would communicate women’s ideas and allow them to forge solidarity action plans, to exchange information and strategies despite the challenges before them of poor communication infrastructure, high level of illiteracy among majority of women and the conflict situation amidst them.

Persistent attacks on the local populations in southern Sudan by the Ugandan rebel group, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), could exacerbate food insecurity in a region already experiencing shortages as a result of poor harvests, a famine alert agency has warned. The LRA, a brutal group of insurgents widely condemned for committing atrocities against civilians in northern Uganda for over 18 years, is said to have rear bases in southern Sudan. In recent weeks, it has intensified its attacks on villages there.

The United Nations Secretary General, has accused Uganda of violating the arms embargo imposed on the Democratic Republic of Congo rebel groups. The embargo-monitoring groups of experts established under the Security Council resolution 1533(2004) compiled the 48-page report. The study was conducted between April and July this year. The report said Uganda still supports two Congolese armed groups; Forces of Armed Congolese (FAPC) of Commander Jerome Kakwavu and Party for the Safeguard and Integrity of Congo of Chief Kahwa.