Kony 2012 Campaign | Learn More
The KONY 2012 campaign aims to promote U.S. and international efforts to help secure the arrest of Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), and bring an end to the group’s horrific violence against civilians in central Africa. The campaign is part of Resolve’s broader work to help see an end to LRA violence in central Africa and lasting peace for affected communities. Below is a primer on the who, what, where, when, and how of KONY 2012 as well as some helpful resources for those wanting to dive more deeply into the issue.
THE WHO'S, WHAT'S, AND HOW'S OF KONY 2012
Who are Joseph Kony and the LRA?
What needs to be done to stop the violence?
How is the KONY 2012 campaign aiming to achieve these goals?
VOICES FROM THE GROUND
What are communities being targeted by LRA violence saying? Visit our Voices from the Ground blog series for stories and statements from currently affected communities in DR Congo, South Sudan, and Central African Republic.
OTHER HELPFUL RESOURCES
Click here for the Kony 2012 policy goals in detail
Click here for “10 things critics – and everyone – should know about KONY 2012”
Click here for Resolve’s Feb 2012 policy report
Click here for information on the Kony 2012 Resolutions (H.Res. 583 /S.Res. 402)
Click here for information on the Rewards for Justice legislation (H.R.4077 / S.2318)
Click here to visit the LRA Crisis Tracker for up-to-date information on LRA activity
Click here for more information on the role of the U.S. advisors in central Africa
TAKE ACTION
Click here for 3 things you can do now to convince your representatives to help bring Joseph Kony to justice and end LRA violence.
Click here to enter Resolve's main site.
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Who are Joseph Kony and the LRA? [Anchor #1]
For those that aren’t familiar, Joseph Kony is the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, or LRA. The LRA formed in northern Uganda in 1987 to oppose the regime of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. However, lacking support from local communities, Kony has forcibly abducted and indoctrinated tens of thousands of children – boys and girls as young as eight years old – to fill his ranks. For these crimes, Kony and several of his top commanders were the first to be indicted by the International Criminal Court in 2005.
Kony’s survival strategy is to prey on civilians in remote areas of central Africa where regional governments and the international community are least able and willing to respond. A combination of peace talks and military pressure forced Kony and the LRA out of northern Uganda in 2006, but they continue to attack civilians and abduct children in the border region of South Sudan, Central African Republic, and Democratic Republic of Congo. Though the group now secures food and supplies largely by looting alone, they were also supported for a number of years by the Government of Sudan in Khartoum, and used as a proxy force by Khartoum in that country’s civil war.
Kony’s forces now number only a few hundred core fighters, but LRA attacks cause terror and fear amongst the local population. At present, roughly 465,000 people are displaced from their homes and communities by the violence. For a day-to-day accounting of LRA attacks on civilians, visit www.LRACrisisTracker.com
What needs to be done to stop the violence? [Anchor #2]
In recent years, significant progress has been made in spurring political leaders to action to help address the LRA crisis. But more must be done for LRA violence to be stopped and affected communities restored.
In 2010, after tens of thousands of activists rallied for passage of historic U.S. legislation, President Obama released the first-ever strategy to help address the crisis. His plan included action to help bring Joseph Kony to justice, help protect vulnerable civilians, assist with the rescue and rehabilitation of LRA abductees, and deliver humanitarian aid to communities displaced by the violence. In an unprecedented move, President Obama also dispatched approximately 100 military advisors to help governments in the region track down Kony and keep civilians safer from harm in 2011.
Sending military advisors was a historic step for efforts to end LRA violence, and the primary goal of the KONY 2012 campaign is to ensure that the deployment of U.S. advisors is sustained until Kony is brought to justice and LRA violence ended. When it was first announced, Obama Administration officials indicated it would be a short-term effort, and would be pulled back unless there was support from Congress and the American people.
Campaign actions go beyond the advisors, and aim to support a comprehensive response to the crisis. As the KONY 2012 sponsors wrote to President Obama in a letter when the campaign launched, the agenda includes:
a) Heightened diplomacy with regional governments to help them cooperate more effectively to address the crisis;
b) Provision of new intelligence and mobility support to help regional governments track down Kony and other top LRA commanders; and
c) Expansion of programs that provide early-warning to communities at risk of LRA attacks, and help LRA abductees escape and return to their homes and families.
For a detailed accounting of the campaign goals and the current situation in LRA-affected areas, read Resolve’s latest report, “Peace Can Be: President Obama’s chance to help end LRA violence in 2012.” The report also highlights issues of poor governance and the systemic injustices that have allowed LRA violence to continue for more than 25 years. A number of questions related to the campaign’s policy agenda were also addressed in a recent blog post, “10 things critics – and everyone – should know about the KONY 2012 campaign.”
How is the KONY 2012 campaign aiming to achieve these goals? [Anchor #3]
The KONY 2012 campaign has a multi-pronged strategy to achieve these goals. First, it aims to make Kony famous – so that everyone knows about what he’s doing, and agrees on the need to see him stopped. To do this, campaign supporters can watch and share the KONY 2012 film.
Second, over the course of 2012, the campaign is mobilizing activists to promote measures now before Congress that would spur new U.S. leadership for peace in the region. These measures reflect the goals articulated above, and you can read those in full here.
Lastly, campaign supporters will be following President Obama and the Republican Presidential nominee on the campaign trail, helping ensure that no matter who wins after the U.S. election this fall, Kony’s won’t win and the U.S. will remain committed to helping stop Joseph Kony and restore communities affected by LRA violence.