President Yoweri Museveni has said the government will soon set up a ministry of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT). Museveni said the ministry would ensure effective, systematic coordination and development of the ICT sector. "The government of Uganda is committed to an ICT-led socio-economic development strategy. In order to realise this, all the key stakeholders, including the education institutions that produce the required human resource, must work hand in hand," he said.

Along with denunciations of the Lord's Resistance Army as "a barbaric cult," the United States Congress heard sharp criticisms last week of the Ugandan government's alleged failure to pursue peace negotiations with the LRA and to prevent the deaths of thousands of displaced civilians. Congressman Chris Smith, chairman of the US House of Representatives' Africa subcommittee, set the tone for the April 26 inquiry by suggesting that the government is "insufficiently committed to improving the situation in northern Uganda."

At least 100 families have fled their homes in Katikomor, West Pokot District, following a disarmament exercise by military personnel. Three guns have been recovered in the operation dubbed Leta amani. Tension has been high in the district as residents continue to flee to Uganda to evade the crackdown on illegal arms. Local leaders have termed the operation "Government persecution" and an abuse of human rights. The disarmament exercise is one of the biggest in recent times.

The practice of male lecturers at Makerere demanding sex from female students in exchange for diplomas and "carpet" grades - indicating where the transaction takes place - is well known. But recently, some administrators and women's advocates at the university quietly drafted a sexual harassment policy to address the problem. If it is approved - which could happen as soon as May - it would be among the first of its kind in an African institution of higher learning.

It is difficult to get published in Africa. Publishers complain that few of the manuscripts they get from budding authors are worth publishing. They also blame a poor reading culture, which makes it difficult for publishing ventures to make profits due to low sales. Publish-on demand is an ideal solution to these challenges. By reducing the cost of producing books, publishers in Africa will be able to bring out more books from new writers and have the courage to experiment.

The Uganda National Resistance Movement spent about Shs50 billion on President Yoweri Museveni's re-election last February the director of Economic Affairs and Monitoring in the Office of the President, told a workshop on the media coverage of the general elections adding that the "commercialization of politics" was leading to "lower returns" in terms of votes. 50 billion shillings is enough to finance the (Shs10b) budget of the Mulago Hospital Complex for about five years and all the hospitals in the country for two years. NRM's main rival, the opposition Forum for Democratic Change said they spent about Shs 740 million.

Caroline Akoko has lived for almost two years at a camp for people fleeing their homes in northern Uganda, where 18 years of war between government forces and a rebel group has caused widespread terror and destruction. "It was on a daily basis that they attacked the village," said Akoko, referring to the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a shadowy, guerrilla force composed largely of children kidnapped from the surrounding area and forced to fight.

The Ugandan Parliament has passed the Amnesty Amendment Act which excludes Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) leader Joseph Kony from being eligible for amnesty. Many Members of Parliament (MPs) were opposed to the act, fearing that excluding Kony from amnesty would damage attempts at peace and begin another war in northern Uganda. MPs in favor of the act reassure that the opportunity for peace talks remains open.

This report by Civil Society Organizations for Peace in Northern Uganda (CSOPNU) describes the brutal impact the conflict between government forces and the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has had on the civilian population in northern Uganda. The average death rate in the region amounts to 146 per week - three times higher than in Iraq - and the average annual cost of the war, $85 million.

Okello Abbino, who has lived in Padibe camp for displaced people in Kitgum district for nine years, has never heard of the Ugandan government’s new strategy to redevelop the war-affected region. "Let them first end the rebellion, then we can talk about development," he said. "How do we start redeveloping the region when it is not yet safe?" Coordinated under the joint country coordination and monitoring committee on northern Uganda, the new strategy was unveiled on 20 March.

Although a number of reports have indicated high levels of bride price-based violence in Uganda, the country has no laws or guidelines that specifically address bride price violations. According to a survey cited in the Uganda Poverty Eradication Action Plan 2004/5-2007/8, domestic violence and sexual harassment are some of the most frequently mentioned human rights abuses in Uganda. A Unicef survey in 1999 titled "State of World Children" carried out in 14 countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa, ranked Uganda top with the highest reported incidents of domestic violence at 41 per cent of those surveyed.

Education is key to preventing the spread of HIV. But while sex education in Uganda covers effectively the biology of HIV, it fails to prompt behaviour change. Action research from Birmingham University, undertaken in Uganda, engaged pupils in choosing the content and delivery of the curriculum in an attempt to fulfil this need. Sex education is included within the Uganda curriculum, but not as a topic on its own. Lessons are teacher-centred and emphasise abstaining from sex until marriage and shunning homosexuality. Structured questionnaires, focus group discussions and personal accounts reveal that pupils see these lessons as boring, irrelevant and a waste of time.

In Uganda, the Coalition on Non-Governmental Organisations (Amendment) Bill ("CONOB") notes with much concern that on Friday, 7 April 2006, the parliament of Uganda passed the Non-Governmental Organisations Registration (Amendment) Bill ("NGO Bill") without taking into consideration the grave concerns expressed by the NGO community. They have issued a press release outlining these concerns.

Uganda will save about $2.7 billion over the next 40 years by not having to service the loans it owed International Development Association (IDA) as of December 31, 2003. The country recently qualified for 100 per cent external debt relief under the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI). The initiative, supported by the World Bank, cancelled Uganda's debt along with that of 16 other poor countries around the world. In total, IDA is expected to provide more than $37 billion in debt relief for the 17 countries over 40 years.

IRIN/AllAfrica.com on Friday examined the HIV/AIDS epidemic in overcrowded camps in the Acholiland region of northern Uganda, where the disease "can't always be given priority" despite the fact that AIDS-related illnesses are among the "top self-reported causes of death" in the roughly 200 camps, which are home to nearly two million internally displaced persons. The Lord's Resistance Army and the Ugandan government have been fighting for almost 20 years in the region, leading to insecurity and underdevelopment in the country.

The International Rescue Committee in Uganda is seeking a dynamic, experienced deputy chief of party for programs, to assist in implementing a $30 million multi-agency consortium delivering USAID- funded HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria prevention and treatment services to conflict- affected persons in northern Uganda.

The Ugandan army has stopped providing military escorts to convoys delivering non-food aid to war-ravaged northern Uganda but relief workers say the decision is premature because the security situation in the region is still fragile. "There is no longer need to give escorts to whoever travels on the roads. We are moving from a bad situation to an improved security situation," army spokesman Lt Chris Magezi said by phone from Gulu, 380 km north of the capital, Kampala. "The situation is much better as most major roads are now motorable without any threat of ambushes."

A just-concluded research in Kasese district has revealed that hundreds of women and girls silently suffer a maternal health problem called obstetric fistula. Obstetric fistula is a hole that develops between the bladder and the birth canal or between the rectum and the birth canal or both, resulting in uncontrolled and continuous leakage of faeces and urine. The community-based research, was conducted by a Kasese-based NGO, God Hope Foundation for Rural Development in collaboration with Women's Dignity Project (WDP) of Tanzania. According to the research team leader, the condition was typical among the poor who cannot access emergency obstetric care.

Two decades of hunger, fear and disease in crowded camps may be ending for nearly two million internally displaced persons in the war-torn northern Uganda. Hundreds have began returning to their villages. The Ugandan army announced that the IDPs mainly in the Lango and Teso sub-regions will walk home. According to the defence and army spokesman, the resettlement process will not, however, extend to the Acholi sub region because there are still a few rebel remnants there. Millions have been forced into camps by the insurgency that has left thousands dead and many abducted and forcefully conscripted into rebellion mainly from the Acholi sub-region.

A new study in Uganda has confirmed that a combination of co-trimoxazole (Septrin), antiretroviral therapy, and insecticide-treated bed nets reduces the frequency of malaria in adults with HIV. The study aimed at assessing the effect of antiretroviral treatment (ART) on the frequency of malaria in people with HIV, and to measure the effects of co-trimoxazole and insecticide-treated bed nets.