CWU to Spotlight 'Invisible Children'

ELLENSBURG, Wash. - The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child makes clear that "State parties shall take all feasible measures to ensure that persons who have not attained the age of 15 years do not take a direct part in hostilities."

It's an admonition that's being ignored in the east-central African nation of Uganda, where a long-running civil war continues. A rebel paramilitary group, called the "Lord's Resistance Army," is leading an uprising against the Ugandan government. Some estimates indicate the group has kidnapped as many as 30,000 children over nearly 20 years, forcing many of them to become soldiers.

The 60-minute documentary "Invisible Children," which chronicles the plight of some of those children, will be shown at Central Washington University on Friday, April 21, at 7 p.m. in the Samuelson Union Building's Cesar Chavez Theatre.

The movie was made in 2003 by three Southern California filmmakers and led to the founding of "Invisible Children Inc." the following year. The San Diego-based non-profit organization now employs more than 150 people in war-torn northern Uganda and is putting 300 children through school.

For more information about the free, public CWU presentation, sponsored by the CWU Civic Engagement Center, Campus Activities and student Salsa club, or for persons of disability to arrange for reasonable accommodation, call (509) 963-1643, or (for the hearing impaired) TDD (509) 963-2143.

Contact: Susan Bentley (509-963-1643/fax 509-963-1726/e-mail: bentleys@cwu.edu)

Public Relations and Marketing: (509) 963-1493