II. RECOMMENDATIONS

To the Lord's Resistance Army

· Immediately stop abducting children;
· Immediately end all killing, torture and sexual abuse of children;
· Immediately release all abductees remaining in captivity;
· Ensure that members of the LRA respect the human rights of all civilians in the areas of conflict.

To the Government of Uganda

· Immediately end all recruitment of children into the Local Defense Units or UPDF and ensure that all individuals recruited in the future are at least eighteen;
· Investigate allegations of recruitment of former LRA abductees while they are at the barracks, as was the case for children held at Achol-Pii barracks in late 2002. Promptly bring those responsible for child recruitment to justice;
· Identify and demobilize all children currently serving in the LDUs or UPDF;
· Instruct the UPDF and security personnel to take all possible steps to protect children from abduction by the LRA;
· When fighting the LRA, make all feasible attempts to minimize child casualties;
· Transport children as quickly as possible from outlying barracks in the districts to the Child Protection Units. Ensure that children are kept at the CPUs no longer than 48 hours.

To the United Nations Commission on Human Rights

· At its 59^th Session, request that the Secretary General appoint a Special Envoy for the abducted children of northern Uganda. Such an envoy should be encouraged to conduct "shuttle diplomacy" between the LRA and the Ugandan government with the aim of securing the release into safety of all those abducted by the LRA as children, and to seek an end to future abductions. The envoy should work closely with the appointed government negotiation team, religious, and other civilian leaders in northern Uganda, as well as with NGOs and UN agencies that have been involved in the situation;
· Urge the LRA to immediately end all recruitment of children and to release all children currently in captivity;
· Urge the government of Uganda to end all recruitment of children, in accordance with its obligations under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict.

To UNICEF

· Establish and maintain an office in northern Uganda in order to strengthen its child protection activities on behalf of children in the north;
· Systematically monitor child recruitment by Ugandan military forces, including both the UPDF and Local Defense Units, and continue to raise the issue with the relevant authorities.

To Donor Countries to Uganda

· Closely monitor any military assistance to the Ugandan government to ensure that human rights standards are strictly observed by the UPDF;
· Continue to support UNICEF and international NGOs working in northern Uganda for the protection of children;
· Provide diplomatic and financial support for the appointment of a Special Envoy for the abducted children of northern Uganda.

To the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child

· Send a team to investigate and report on children's rights abuses in the north of Uganda and widely circulate the findings to members of the African Union.