Grace Akallo (born 1981) is a Ugandan woman who was abducted in 1996 to be used as a child soldier in the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA),[1] a rebel military group led by Joseph Kony.
At the time of her abduction, Akallo was 15 years old and attending St. Mary's College, a Catholic boarding school[2] in Aboke, Uganda.
[6] and delivering speeches about her experience as a former child soldier[4] Akallo has also started a non-profit organization in America called United Africans for Women and Children's Rights (UAWCR), aiming to protect the rights of African women and children;[3] and cofounded the Network of Young People Affected by War through UNICEF.
[1] On the night of Akallo's abduction, the LRA soldiers broke into the dorm through the windows while the girls and their dormitory supervisor, Alupu Jemma Obace, tried to run and hide.
[9] The LRA soldiers tied the young girls to a rope and forced them to walk for an entire night, threatening to kill them if they did not obey.
[9] In the documentary Grace, Milly, Lucy... Child Soldiers, Akallo recounts how Commander Laguira told them: "Forget about Uganda.
[1] Akallo and her fellow child soldiers were forced to fight against the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA),[1] having to rely heavily on their instincts for survival.
Despite their young ages, the girls, including Akallo, were also sexually assaulted by the LRA soldiers, who raped and beat them.
[9] Akallo says that "to become somebody's wife forcefully, it affects your spirit forever", in Grace, Milly, Lucy... Child Soldiers.
[3] In a 2013 interview with UNICEF, Akallo says: "Even children who spent more than 10 years in captivity can get better with the right support, education, training, by being accepted in society.
[4] Later, when she was in college at the Uganda Christian University (UCU), Akallo started giving speeches about her experiences as a child soldier.
[4] Akallo soon after transferred to Gordon College[12] and was invited to be a spokesperson for World Vision, as well as tell her story on CNN and The Oprah Winfrey Show.
[14] She also delivered a speech to the World Bank in Washington, DC in 2009 during a conference discussing violence prevention;[9] and a speech to the UN Security Council during a 2009 open debate on Children and Armed Conflict[1] in connection to the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict.
[9] Akallo has also catalyzed action in Washington D.C. to help end the violence in Uganda by lobbying to the US Congress[15] and delivering testimonies.
[9] Though she is not one of the founders, nor works directly for the organization, Empowering Hands was founded by a group of former LRA child soldiers, some of whom were in the same camp as Akallo had been.
[7] The goal of NYPAW is to form connections between different countries where children have been affected by violence as child soldiers and reach out to find what aid those young people need and want to better help them.