KAMPALA, Dec 19 (Reuters) - The World Food Programme plans to halve the number of people receiving food aid in northern Uganda by the end of 2009 due to improved security there, the U.N. agency said on Friday. During Uganda's two-decade civil war, aid groups ran massive operations in the north, but some groups have gradually scaled down since a mid-2006 ceasefire between Kampala and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels. "Our phase out is roughly half in 2009 what we did before," WFP Country Director Stanlake Samkange told reporters in Kampala. "In 2010, we'd probably reduce it by a further cut in half. "It's related to the stability of the last two years, and the greater access people have to their lands and other livelihoods," he said. Nearly two million people fled their homes and tens of thousands were killed during the civil war, but since a peace process started in 2006, nearly half of displaced people have returned home or to resettlement camps, aid groups say. Uganda hopes the north's long-neglected but fertile land could turn the region into the country's bread basket. Samkange said that WFP had made contingency plans for the north due to a Uganda-led attack on LRA guerrillas in north eastern Democratic Republic of Congo that began on Sunday. "We're closely watching what is going on, and we're making contingency plans," he said. The offensive, agreed upon by Kinshasa, Kampala and south Sudan, began with an aerial attack of rebel bases in the remote jungles of Congo after LRA chief Joseph Kony repeatedly failed to sign a final peace deal. The attack has raised fears that LRA guerrillas, if not completely defeated, may launch new attacks in the north. But Uganda's army says it has bolstered forces to prevent that. Rebels were notorious for killings, forcibly recruiting children and other atrocities. Kony and two deputies are wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court. (Reporting by Jack Kimball; Editing by Matthew Tostevin)
A malnourished and sick child is weighed at a hospital in Dihkil November 24, 2008. The Red Crescent Society of Djibouti says water has become the number one humanitarian issue in ...
