Conflict and natural disasters havecreated many internally displaced people (IDPs) and refugees in Africa. In October, the African Union will hold asummit in Uganda on developing a unified policy to deal with humanitariancrises ? something called the Kampala Convention.
Millionsof people were displaced in northern Uganda by the long war between thegovernment and LRA rebels, led by Joseph Kony.
ProfessorTarsis Kabwegyere is Uganda's minister of relief and disaster preparedness andrefugees and a former refugee himself. FromKampala, he says helping those forced from their homes is a huge problem formany countries.
"Thefigure is such a big thing. You know, weare talking (about) over 17 million people affected by displacement of one kindor another ? natural and man-made. Andthis is a lot of people to be in misery," he says.
"Wehit it hard head on because Uganda had a tradition of handling refugees. We have hadrefugees from Congo?Sudan?Rwandaand recently refugees from Kenya. And wealso had our own internal problems arising out of the Kony rebellion," hesays.
Theminister says as a result, Uganda has developed "outstanding" policies fordealing with refugees and IDPs, eventually resettling them back home.
"Therefugees are not in the camps. They arein settlements and they are able to raise their food. In some cases, they are able to produce morefood than even the local population around them," he says.
"Camplife is so miserable and especially when it's long term. For example, you see Congolese who have beenhere for more than 30 years, 40 years. If they were in the camps, they would have been miserable," he says.
Healso says those given shelter in Uganda also have access to a number ofservices, including education.
"Manyof the current leaders in Uganda experienced refugee status?. So, we have tended to be more humane thanother countries," Kabwegyere says.
Butsolving humanitarian issues also involves dealing with the causes, such aspolitical turmoil and conflict.
"Forexample, we now have about 50,000 Congolese in Uganda. We don't know how soon the situation will bechanged. So when people can producetheir own food and are complimented with humanitarian assistance, you have somesemblance of normal life," he says.
"That'swhy there's this special summit, because now the objectives are very, veryclear. Identify ways of preventingforced displacement. Improve theprotection of victims of forced displacement. Strengthen measures to meet specific needs of displaced women andchildren?. And devise strategies toreduce the impact of natural disasters," he says.
Forexample, meteorologists have predicted a return of El Nino weather patternsthis year, which could trigger flood or drought conditions in Africa.
Kabwegyeresays African nations also need to strengthen partnerships with theinternational community.
The AU summit on internally displacedpeople and refugees will be held in Kampala from October 19through the 23.