Take Action: End the Use of Child Soldiers in Northern Uganda

Children make good soldiers. Easily intimidated and manipulated, they obey orders without question. They will cook, clean, and endure rape by their superiors in silence. They are malleable. More so than adults, they can be taught to ignore conscience. They can be taught to kill without mercy. And they are expendable. When an army runs low on children because they've sent too many ahead of the adults to set off enemy land mines, they can abduct and enslave more.

This is why Joseph Kony, leader of the rebel LRA (Lord's Resistance Army — which has nothing to do with the "Lord," by the way) has used children to fight his 23-year-long war in Northern Uganda. And it is one of the reasons the Ugandan Government has so far been unable to end the war.

According to Invisible Children, a leader in the movement to stop Kony and the LRA since 2003, 90% of the rebel army is comprised of children, and the Northern Ugandan youth of today have never lived a day without war on their doorstep. An entire generation of people has never known peace. But through campaigns like Displace Me, marches, petitions, films, and camping out on the doorstep of the U.S. government, peace is within reach.

On May 13th, thanks to Invisible Children and thousands of other activists, advocates, and abolitionists worldwide, the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act passed through Congress. It now sits on President Obama's desk. If signed into law, the bill would require the creation and implementation of an interagency strategy to prevent further LRA violence, which would include a plan to capture LRA leaders, encourage rebel commanders to turn themselves in, demobilize child soldiers, and protect civilians. It will also obligate the U.S. to assist in recovery and reconciliation efforts, including $10 million for immediate assistance for families fleeing war-torn areas and another $30 million to address the root causes of the war.

This is a huge accomplishment in the fight to stop children from being trafficked as soldiers. But the bill needs to be signed within 10 days after passing through Congress, so there is not much time left. Invisible Children is also not finished. According to their blog, the biggest win will be getting the President to make a personal and public statement condemning the LRA and committing to end its violence. The fact that this bill passed through Congress when only 3% of bills in the last session were actually passed is a testament to the power of unified voices and something our generation should be proud of.

You can lend your voice to this historic movement by signing this petition, which goes straight to the White House. We have President Obama's ear. Now use your voice to speak for the thousands of silent children enslaved in Africa's longest running war.

Photo credit: laurenatclemson