OneWorld.net (U.S.)

NEW YORK, Jan 20 (OneWorld) - Worried that a continued deadlock in peace talks between the Ugandan government and rebel forces could unleash another wave of bloodshed, international aid organizations are urging the United Nations to step up its efforts to bring the two sides back to the negotiating table.

"The international community needs to inject all its diplomatic energy to persuade both parties to keep talking and come to a just and sustainable settlement," said Savio Carvalho of the international humanitarian aid group Oxfam International.

Last week, Oxfam and other prominent organizations involved in humanitarian operations in northern Uganda warned if government forces and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebel group returned to fighting, the country was likely to face a massive humanitarian crisis.

More than 1.6 million people are believed to have been forced from their homes in northern Uganda as a result of the civil war that has been going on for the past 16 years. The fighting stopped just five months ago, following successful efforts by the government in Sudan as a mediator.

Aid groups based in the country say the ceasefire has not only brought relative calm and normalcy to the daily life of most Ugandans, but has also raised a great deal of hope for economic recovery and growth in external trade.

"The brief respite the people have enjoyed since the ceasefire will come to naught if fighting is allowed," said Carvlaho, who leads Oxfam's humanitarian efforts in Uganda.

"The talks (between the government and LRA) are the best chance for peace," he added. "They cannot be allowed to fail."

According to Oxfam, about 230,000 have already begun to return to their homes, although a vast majority of displaced people (around 1.4 million), are still living in camps due to continued insecurity.

With the ceasefire in effect, most of them are now freely traveling between the camps and their home areas. However, they remain largely unprotected from the threat of an LRA return to fighting.

The LRA, which claims to be fighting for the rights of the Acholi ethnic group, has been accused by human rights groups of killing innocent civilians, raping women, looting stores and homes, and burning schools.

The LRA, according to Refugees International, a Washington, DC-based humanitarian organization, is believed to have kidnapped over 30,000 children since 1986. On charges of committing crimes against humanity, four of the group's top military commanders are currently facing arrest warrants from the Hague-based International Criminal Court.

Like other humanitarian groups, Refugees International says intense and immediate international assistance in facilitating a dialogue between the government and LRA rebels is a must for a durable peace in Uganda.

"Each party involved in the negotiations faces issues that require external assistance for resolution," notes activist Kavita Shukla, who returned to the U.S. last month after spending several months in Uganda and southern Sudan with colleague Sarah Martin.

In Shukla's view, aside from other reasons, the peace process is not moving forward in Uganda because the military leadership of the LRA is afraid of the charges leveled by the Hague court.

Last November the two parties met in Juba, south Sudan, but failed to make any breakthrough for further dialogue because LRA delegates refused to return to southern Sudan, where their forces have established bases.

The government of southern Sudan said it wanted the LRA to remove its military bases from the area. Observers say southern Sudanese leader Reik Machar's refusal to accept the LRA demand for the inclusion of other African nations in the negotiations also played a key role in blocking the progress towards dialogue.

Refugees International and other aid groups say they believe that the southern Sudanese leadership should not hesitate to request additional help for dialogue.

Considering the complex nature of the initiative for dialogue some observers seemed to believe that the former Mozambique president Joaquim Chissano, who is now UN special envoy in the region, might prove more effective than Machar.

In Shukla's words, Chissano's involvement would "take some of the pressure off Machar."

However, Shukla said all efforts toward a peace dialogue would remain fragile if any party decided to step aside from the existing peace agreement.

In reiterating its call for talks, Refugees International has also joined the call of local Ugandan groups for increased participation of women from both the government and the LRA.

"Women have suffered in particular for years due to this conflict," said a Ugandan university student named Judith speaking to Refugees International during a November peace march. "We are very concerned about the lack of our involvement and input at the peace talks."

The government of Uganda delegation has no women members and the LRA negotiating team includes few women, Refugees International said.

"Women are like water," said Judith. "When the situation heats up between the two sides we have the ability to diffuse tensions. We can undoubtedly increase the chances of the talks succeeding."