Bishop Nelson Onono-Onweng (Photo: Sarah Truby/CMS) The conflict in northern Uganda between government and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), the rebel forces, has claimed thousands of live, displaced a reported two million people and led to numerous civilian massacres and abductions, including those of about 20,000 thousand children, who were subsequently forced to become child soldiers, in the case of the boys, or rebels' 'wives', in the case of the girls.
At one point, the UN's Head of Humanitarian Affairs, Jan Egeland, described the situation as "the most neglected humanitarian crisis in the world".
Now a truce has come into effect, raising hopes that the war in northern Uganda could soon be over. Peace talks are taking place in Juba, the capital of southern Sudan.
The key change in recent years seems to be that support for the LRA from Sudan's government has dwindled since a peace deal in that country gave southern Sudan more autonomy.
The LRA shifted its operational base to the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo but clashed with United Nations forces there.
The LRA seemed to be running out of friends, and this appears to have forced the rebel movement to push for peace.
There are still substantial obstacles to overcome.
Most pertinently, there is still the thorny issue of how a final peace deal and amnesty can be negotiated when the LRA's top leaders are wanted on war crimes charges by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
John Martin recently interviewed the Rt Rev Nelson Onono-Onweng, Anglican Bishop of Gulu, northern Uganda, in CMS House. The bishop said, "There are great hopes for peace, with talks going on in Juba, despite the sticky issue of the ICC indictment of leaders of the LRA. Even so, this need not constrain the prospects for peace. We need to focus on the key issue: peace.
"There are many indicators that peace is returning and that it's sustainable.
1. People have started to come home.
2. Schools that were displaced have been told they can go back to their local community and re-open there.
3. Night commuters - many thousands used to abandon their home in rural villages every night and sought shelter in the relative safety of big towns - are no longer there and the night-commuter centre has been closed for almost 10 months.
4. There is free movement by people. It's now possible to take an overnight bus from Gulu to Kampala without fear.
5. Business is booming. You can tell that by the amount of traffic on the road from Gulu to Juba.
6. Violence and abductions have stopped."
The rebels are led by Joseph Kony, who was a member of a previous rebel force in northern Uganda.
The bishop notes, "I have met him. We shook hands.
"Before I met him I wondered if he could smile or laugh. We tend to paint people who are seen as our enemies as inhuman. When we met, I found we could talk, smile and joke.
"Both sides are committed to the peace talks. The leaders on both sides have agreed they will abide by the peace agreement when it comes.
"To make the peace stick, there needs to be local and international effort. Acholiland has been broken by 21 years of war, so local people and the world community will need to join hands together.
"It will take 40 years, twice as long as the war took, to repair the damage and restore what's been lost."
The predicament facing Uganda now is reconciling the need for peace with the victims' demand for justice.
CMS people in mission in Uganda continue to work to provide medical care, community development and health care, theological education, education, physiotherapy and women’s and youth ministries.