The International Criminal Court (ICC) has directed €17 million (approximately Shs65 billion) towards rehabilitating victims of Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) insurgency in Uganda. The programme, which began in 2008, has supported over 85,000 people in 18 districts across the Acholi, Lango, and Teso sub-regions. It addresses the physical, psychological, financial, and material needs of the war victims.
Funded by the ICC’s Trust Fund for Victims (TFV), the initiative has been integral to the recovery of those affected by one of Uganda’s most brutal conflicts. In July 2024, the ICC announced an additional allocation of at least Shs19 billion annually to implement the Ongwen Reparation Order. This initiative will provide reparations to victims of sexual and gender-based violence, former child soldiers, and those impacted by attacks on internally displaced persons camps during the prosecution of Dominic Ongwen.
Ongwen, a former senior commander in the LRA, is serving a 25-year prison sentence in Norway for his role in the insurgency, which displaced over 1.2 million people and resulted in hundreds of deaths. The ICC’s reparation efforts, while funded through the Trust Fund, are heavily reliant on voluntary contributions for timely implementation.
