A UN envoy has urged the Ugandan government to demonstrate commitment to resolving the conflict in the north through peaceful means, local media reported Sunday.

Dennis McNamara, director of the Internal Displacement Division of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, was quoted as saying that the conflict was "one of the world's most serious humanitarian crises."

The insurgency of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) led by Joseph Kony in northern Uganda has left tens of thousands dead and some 1.4 million displaced in the past 20 years.

"We have failed the people in the north. They are crowded in camps without being protected. This is a huge challenge nationally and internationally,'' said McNamara who is based in Geneva, Switzerland, while addressing the launch of a report on northern Uganda Friday.

In comparison with situation in Darfur, western Sudan, the envoy described the situation in northern Uganda even worse regarding the crude mortality rates among displaced children.

"You cannot achieve peace and security when you militarize the whole area," said the envoy, who had just concluded a week-long multi-donor mission in Uganda

The 41-page report by the Refugee Law Project titled, Only Peace Can Restore the Confidence of the Displaced was described by the Ugandan army as having "gross inaccuracies''.

"A military situation requires a military action. In a war situation there is no law and order. `You cannot resort to peaceful means. Agreeably we have had our weaknesses, but we have learnt lessons and addressed these weaknesses,'' Felix Kulayigye, Defense spokesman told the audience in the launch.

The report covered issues of conflict resolution, the National Internally Displaced Person (IDP) Policy, IDP protection, humanitarian access, livelihood and a possible scenario for return of IDPs to their homes.

Source: Xinhua