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New York University Dance Students Visit Uganda

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY DANCE STUDENTS VISIT UGANDA

Twelve graduate students from New York University’s prestigious Dance Education Department will travel to Uganda from January 3 to 13 as a part of a collaborative exchange program with Makerere University’s Department of Music, Dance and Drama (MDD) and the Kampala Ballet and Modern Dance School (KBMDS). The program will involve cross-cultural exchange and performance of both modern and Ugandan traditional dance styles and techniques, as well as a week-long dance workshop for disadvantaged children. The NYU students will also have the opportunity to visit various Ugandan cultural heritage sites and interact with Ugandan artists and cultural figures.

From January 8-12, the American students will team up with Makerere dance students and KBMDS instructors to co-teach a one week workshop for disadvantaged children from Kampala and Gulu. The workshop is designed to bring the children together to provide them with professional dance and movement classes while teaching them about the cultural significance of dance both in Uganda and the United States. Over the course of the workshop, the children will be guided in the development of creative dance projects on the theme of peace building.

The collaborative exchanges between NYU, MDD and KBMDS students and instructors will culminate in an evening performance, including a children’s performance, on Friday, January 12, at 6:00 p.m. at Kampala’s Ndere Centre to which the public is invited to attend free of charge.

The American Embassy Public Affairs Section is a co-sponsor of the children’s workshop program, as part of the U.S. Mission’s commitment to bringing U.S. and Ugandan artists together to share artistic experiences and practices. The Irish Embassy is also supporting the children’s workshops as well as video documentation of the project. The Ugandan German Cultural Society is providing assistance with publicity, while the Hotel International is also supporting various administrative expenses.

Journalists who are interested in covering aspects of the NYU students’ visit or observing workshop sessions should contact Tina Turyagyenda of the U.S. Embassy’s Public Affairs Section, at 259-791, ext. 6122 or TuryagyendaTX@state.gov; or Jill Pribyl, Program Manager, Kampala Ballet and Modern Dance School, at 0774-468-642 or Pribulug05@yahoo.com .

U.S. SUPPORTS END OF CONFLICT WITH THE LRA

U.S. Supports End of Conflict with the LRA

June 18, 2008

The United States continues to support a peaceful end to the 22-year-old conflict between the Lord's Resistance Army and the Government of Uganda. We call on LRA leader Joseph Kony to sign and adhere to the Final Peace Agreement (FPA) negotiated in talks that have now concluded in Juba, Sudan. The United States will support the Government of Uganda in implementing aspects of the FPA that pertain to reconciliation, reintegration, and development in northern Uganda.

The United States condemns the recent LRA attacks on Sudanese Peoples' Liberation Army forces at Nabanga, Sudan, and elsewhere, as well as the LRA's abductions and other abuses of innocent civilians in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, and southern Sudan. We will continue to support regional initiatives to protect the citizens of these countries.

RELEASE OF 2008 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT

Release of 2008 Trafficking in Persons Report

June 11, 2008

In every country around the world, including the United States, there is evidence of trafficking in human beings. Men, women, and children are held in domestic servitude, exploited for commercial sex, forcibly recruited as child soldiers, or abused in factories and sweatshops. These forms of human trafficking are, in fact, modern-day slavery.

Victims of sex and labor trafficking in the United States include foreign nationals, American citizens, women, men, children, and adults. Trafficking involves the exploitation of an individual through force, fraud or coercion, which can be both physical and psychological. Trafficking crimes do not necessarily involve moving people across borders. In Africa, for example, internal trafficking of individuals from rural to urban areas to be exploited for labor purposes is a common manifestation of this abuse.

Uganda is a source and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Ugandan children are trafficked within the country, as well as to Canada, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia for forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation. Karamojong women and children are sold in cattle markets or by intermediaries and forced into situations of domestic servitude, sexual exploitation, herding, and begging. Some security companies in Kampala recruit Ugandans to serve as security guards in Iraq where, at times, reportedly then withheld their travel documents and pay as a means to prevent their departure; these cases may constitute trafficking. Pakistani, Indian, and Chinese workers are reportedly trafficked to Uganda, and Indian networks traffic Indian children to the country for sexual exploitation.

Children from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda, and Burundi are trafficked to Uganda for agricultural labor and commercial sexual exploitation. The government released crime statistics for 2007 which indicated that child trafficking crimes had increased over the previous year. The Inspector General of Police announced that 54 children had been kidnapped, abducted, or stolen during the year; seven rescued children were believed to be potential trafficking victims who had not yet reached their destinations. Until August 2006, the terrorist rebel organization, Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), abducted children and adults in northern Uganda to serve as soldiers, sex slaves, and porters. While no further abductions of Ugandan children have been reported, at least 300 additional people, mostly children, were abducted since February in the Central African Republic and the DRC.

We have seen firsthand the powerful impact when governments, non-governmental organizations, and individuals stand up to meet this challenge. Uganda is on the verge of joining 100 other countries that have strengthened existing laws or passed new anti-trafficking in persons legislation. The draft Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons bill is now in Parliament awaiting approval. It is a private members' bill drafted by Law and Advocacy for Women in Uganda (Uganda-LAW) that has attracted significant government support. The law has been championed by the Uganda Women's Parliamentary Association (UWOPA), which made the legislation one of its three top priorities. Uganda's proposed law is one of the most progressive on the continent and contains provisions for an anti-trafficking unit within the Ministry of Internal Affairs and enhanced protections for victims. Its passage and the ratification of the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, would give Ugandan law enforcement and judicial officials the tools they need to prosecute effectively traffickers and provide protection to victims. International and non-governmental organizations such as UNICEF, UNAFRI, Ugandan Youth Development Link, African Network for the Prevention and Protection Against Child Abuse and Neglect, Uganda Child Rights NGO Network, End Child Prostitution, Pornography, and Trafficking, SLUM-AID, OASIS, the International Rescue Committee and AVSI Foundation closely support the Ministries of Education and Gender, Labor, and Social Development in their efforts to prevent trafficking and reach out to victims.

The U.S. Government stands ready to assist countries fighting this scourge. In Uganda, our Mission provided financial support and expertise in the drafting of the anti-trafficking legislation. Other programs include training for police, immigration, labor officials, and judicial officials; programs to remove children from the worst forms of child labor; assistance for formerly abducted individuals and child soldiers; and public awareness campaigns to help better identify victims and assistance.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice released our 8th annual Trafficking in Persons Report on June 4 to raise the level of awareness worldwide and to stimulate action to address this crime. Uganda has been a steadfast partner in the global fight against trafficking in persons. Uganda's Tier Two ranking in this year's report is a recognition of the Government's efforts to step up its countertrafficking efforts over the past year. Increased prosecution of traffickers and provision of assistance to victims will further enhance Uganda's efforts. Together, we will remain committed to act as a voice for the many voiceless victims of this crime—the prostituted woman or child, the exploited domestic worker, the trapped agricultural laborer. Their bondage demands our attention and action. Let us work together to restore the human dignity of all those affected by this dehumanizing and horrible crime.

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