Areas Affected By Conflict

We work in Northern Uganda, with dance participants from the Lango and Acholi sub-regions. CBOW in Lango come from Minakulu, Otuke and Aboke (the location of the most high-profile LRA school-girl abduction). Participants from the Acholi sub-region live in Gulu. These areas were strongly impacted by conflict and are the most impoverished.

Districts

Gulu is a City in the Northern Region of Uganda. The regional headquarters are located in the city of Gulu, which is also the administrative capital of Northern Uganda. The city consist of two main divisions of Gulu west and Gulu east. Gulu District is bordered by Lamwo District to the north, Pader District and Omoro District to the east, Oyam District to the south, Nwoya District to the southwest, and Amuru District to the west. The district headquarters in the city of Gulu are approximately 333 kilometres (207 mi), by road, north of Uganda's capital city, Kampala. The coordinates of the district are, near the city of Gulu are: 02°49'50.0"N, 32°19'13.0"E (Latitude: 2.830556; Longitude: 32.320278).

As of November 2019, the district was one of the eight districts that constituted the Acholi sub-region, the historical homeland of the Acholi ethnic group. The district is composed of Aswa County and the Gulu Municipal Council. The economic activity of 90 per cent of the population in the district is subsistence agriculture.

The district has been the location of much of the fighting between the Ugandan army and the Lord’s Resistance Army. Over 90 percent of the population has returned to their villages after more than two decades of living in what were known as "Internally Displaced People Camps".

In the 2014 national census and household survey, the population of Gulu District was enumerated at 275,613.

Otuke District is a district located in northern Uganda, it is named after its 'chief town' Otuke, where the district headquarters are located. The district was carved out of Lira District in July 2009 and it is administered by the Otuke District Administration, and it is also part of the nine districts that make up Lango sub-region. The district is bordered by Lira District on the West, Abim to the East, Alebtong District to the South and Agago and Pader Districts to the North and Amuria and Napak Districts to the South East. It is also one of the districts that was affected by both Karamojong conflict and the two decade war between the Lord's Resistance Army and the Ugandan army The District covers approximately a total area of 1,548.7 km2. Otuke was pronounced a district on 17 July 2010. The district is comprised of a Town Board (Adwari) Okwang Sub-County has the highest population in the District, while Otuke Town Council has the lowest. Otuke has 17 health facilities including 1 HC IV, 6 HC IIIs and 10 HC IIs. It also has 88 academic institutions including 3 Tertiary, 8 secondary, 64 Primary and 13 Nursery schools. There are 250 religious institutions including; 1 Catholic Church, 100 C.O.U, 141 Pentecostal churches and 8 Islamic institutions.

Lira District is located in Lango sub-region in Northern Uganda and is bordered by the districts of Pader and Otuke in the North and North East, Alebtong in the East, Dokolo in the South and Apac in the West. Physically, the district lies between: Latitudes 1o 21’N, 2o 42”N Longitudes 320 51”E, 340 15”E The district covers approximately a total area 1326 km2 of which 1286.22 km2 is land area. It is one of the Districts that suffered the wrath of the Lord’s Resistance Army insurgency, which resulted into an influx of people from other Districts.

The district is composed of the following number of administrative units: Counties = 1 county and 1 Lira Municipal Council Sub-counties = 9 sub counties and 4 Divisions Parishes = 63 parishes and 20 wards in Lira Municipality Villages = 678 villages and 64 cells in Lira Municipality. Climate The continental climate of the district is modified by the large swamp area surrounding the southern part of the district. The rainfall in the district is bimodal with one peak during April-May and the other in August-October. The average annual rainfall in the district varies between 1200-1600 mm decreasing northwards. The rainfall is mainly convectional and normally comes in the afternoons and evenings. The average minimum and maximum temperatures are 22.50C and 25.50C, respectively. Absolute maximum temperature hardly goes beyond 360C, and absolute minimum hardly falls below 200C. The Equatorial Trough which brings rainfall passes over the district. The South easterly winds which also brings rains to the district passes over Lira. Land and sea breezes are common in the district. Wind run is low (1-4m/sec) during the rainy season and moderate (4-8m/sec) during the dry season.