YouSaid · the spoken record

Akallo

lines on the record
7
first
2009-04-29
most recent
2009-04-29
sittings or episodes
1
sources
un-security-council

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

  1. “I was lucky enough to be able to escape and to be supported by people who cared for me, like Sister Rachele. But so many girls are still waiting for their chance to be rescued, and I think of them every day of my life. I heard the Special Representative when she asked what she should say to victims of sexual violence like Adila and me. My answer is very simple: there is hope. There is hope because I too believe that this Council will act and succeed, as it has for child soldiers, for those thousands of children out there who are still waiting. I say this myself, because I am still waiting for some of my friends to return, and I hope that everyone here will be committed to bringing people like my friends back home.”

    2009-04-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6114 (2009) · source

  2. “I have told my story, but the stories you have not heard are thousand-fold. There are dozens of armies and rebel groups that continue to recruit children in the same way around the world. I am here to remind you of the very real suffering of these children, who are hoping for you to act. When I read the report in front of us (S/2009/158), I was amazed with the progress made in stopping girls and boys from being forcibly taken from their homes, beaten and forced to kill. Although child soldiers are still around, many have already been released. However, when I read further in the report, I saw little on a subject that means so much to me. What has been done for those boys and girls who are victims of rape? Sexual violence is a terrible crime and perpetrators must be punished. It must stop. I am saying this out of experience.”

    2009-04-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6114 (2009) · source

  3. “The LRA was attacked by the rebels from southern Sudan, giving me the chance to run away. I walked for two weeks without food, surviving only on wild leaves, soil and dew in the morning. I was rescued by villagers from southern Sudan and handed back to the Ugandan Government soldiers, who then handed me over to Sister Rachele. I was happy to be back, but my heart was saddened by the ongoing torture my friends were still going through. I left too many of them behind. After a month at home, I went back to St. Mary's College Aboke and later graduated. I was lucky to reach the university level. But many of the girls who manage to escape are not able to return to school or have their dreams for the future because they are not helped to deal with their horrible experiences, or because they now have babies born during their captivity.”

    2009-04-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6114 (2009) · source

  4. “My friends and I were sent to battle against the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) several times. Hunger and thirst were the order of the day. During the long march back from battle against the SPLA, I fainted from thirst and hunger, and the LRA actually buried me in a shallow grave, thinking that I was dead. In addition to being forced to fight, my friends and I were distributed to rebel commanders. We were forced to kill those girls who tried to escape or refused their husbands. I was repeatedly raped by the LRA commander on countless occasions. I was an innocent young girl. I had never known a man in my life until that day. I felt like a rock was being thrust into my skin. Yet I had to survive. In April 1997, after seven months in captivity, I finally got a chance to escape from the rebels.”

    2009-04-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6114 (2009) · source

  5. “She was asked to leave, but she refused to leave without her children. She stood her ground and, in the end, she was released with 109 girls. I was not one of the lucky ones though, as I was among the 30 that were forced to remain. After a month of wandering in the northern Uganda forest, we were divided into two groups to make it easier to control our march to southern Sudan. On the way, many children who could not walk were killed and their bodies abandoned in the forest. The rebels would use sticks, axes, bayonets or machetes. When we arrived in Sudan, I and my friends were given AK-47s. We were taught to dismantle, clean and assemble the gun. My group was not taught to shoot or to fight. We were told hunger would actually teach us, and indeed it did.”

    2009-04-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6114 (2009) · source

  6. “I stayed in a dormitory with dozens of girls from far away. I was excited because only a few girls from my village went to high school. I had learned the advantages of education. I was determined to be the first person to go to university in my village. Sadly, my dream of a great future was cut short when, in October 1996, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) stormed into my dorm and abducted 139 girls, including me. I was among the first five who were tied and pushed to move out. We were forced by the LRA soldiers to form four straight lines and were marched out into the woods. I knew at that moment that there was no surviving. My spirit died. My body was constantly wet with urine. Sister Rachele, the Deputy Headmistress at the school, followed the rebels. She had no power. The rebels threatened to kill or rape her in front of us.”

    2009-04-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6114 (2009) · source

  7. “Ms. Akallo: I thank the Council for inviting me to give a small voice to the many voiceless children in war. My name is Grace Akallo. I am from Uganda, and I was born in northern Uganda. I am here to talk not only about my own story but on behalf of all the children in armed conflict, who have to face and survive the atrocities of war, who suffer through the abuses of being used as child soldiers and through rape and sexual abuse. I am thankful that representatives are here at the highest level, and, to me, it means that you care, and that you are decision makers who want to show their commitment to stopping the suffering of children in wars. Allow me to tell you my story. After elementary school, my parents sent me to St. Mary's College Aboke, a high school for girls in northern Uganda.”

    2009-04-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6114 (2009) · source