Members of the NGO community, along with EU officials and members of the public, gathered in the European Parliament for the official presentation of the AVSI "War, Hope and Peace" exhibition in Brussels on Tuesday. After more than two decades of conflict, the Acholi region of northern Uganda is finally beginning a transition from emergency interventions into development. Displaying the struggles and dreams of former child soldiers through drawings made as part of psychosocial support provided by AVSI programming in northern Uganda, the exhibition offered an opportunity to reflect on the nature of the conflict, and the hopes for the future. Guest speakers including MP Gabriele Albertini, ECHO Africa, Pacific and Caribbean Head of Unit Cees Wittebrood, and AVSI Vice President Ezio Castelli drew attention to the horrors of the past, while emphasizing the hope of today. "Life can start again, despite everything. And with it, the hopes and the desires of children who had been deprived of the opportunity to dream" expressed Mr. Albertini. "... Some things can make sense again: having a home, going back to school, becoming adults and having a job. But also, simply living in a family, with a mother and a father." The audience was moved by the message sent by Agnes Gillian Ocitti, a former child abductee who is now a post-graduate student at the University of Utrecht. Her testimony provided the best example of the resilience of the human spirit, and its capacity to overcome grave adversity in spite of all the obstacles. "This exhibition wants to witness the condemnation of this atrocity, the use of children as soldiers in a war, and at the same time show the light for the future" Mr. Albertini concluded.

Contact: Brett Morton, AVSI Uganda Communications, brett.morton@avsi.org