Children's psychological distress and needs in Northern Uganda's conflict zone: an assessment of stakeholder's conflicting engagements

During the prolonged armed conflict in Northern Uganda, the state through its Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) were based in the conflict zone to protect and promote psychosocial well-being of the civilians.
Nevertheless people in this region continued to be exposed to dangers of wartime and psychosocial suffering. This chapter seeks to assess the conflicting roles played by the state and NGOs, also called humanitarian agencies in the prevention and alleviation of psychological distress. While we address this issue, children's perspectives about suffering, distressm survival and lack of appropriate care will constitute our main empirical evidence. The field date provided in this chapter are based on one year of ethnographic fieldwork in Gulu district in 2004-2005. The doctoral research focused on experiences of displaced children aged 8-16 years, including ex-combatants, who had fled to a relatively safer Gulu municipality from the districts of Gulu, Kitgum and Pader. Additional informants included teachers, camp leaders, NGO coordinators, nurses, counselors, and medical doctors. The field data are complemented by data derived from literature review.