UN-HABITAT has announced that it had appointed a seasoned Special Advisor with global expertise to assist the Ugandan government and local authorities in the former Gulu conflict zone in northern Uganda. Mr. Peter Donde, a Kenyan national, is a veteran of special projects in Somalia, Sudan, Myanmar, Iraq, Indonesia, Tanzania and Kenya. Background - some 2 million people have been displaced in northern Uganda due to conflict and civil war. The majority have lived for decades in poor conditions in some 200 camps in the region. The conflict in northern Uganda to depose President Yoweri Museveni began immediately after he took power in 1986. The conflict has been characterized by serious atrocities being committed against the local population forcing displacement of thousands of families. A ceasefire between Ugandan government and the Lord's Resistance Army rebels, which came into force in August 2006, has resulted in thousands of people being able to go back to their villages. But despite the desire to return home, Internally Displaced Persons remain cautious, preferring to spend days tilling their land but returning to the camps or transit sites at nights. This has prompted the Government to develop a Peace Recovery and Development Plan for Northern Uganda.