Excellent news, and this is great to see a resource like this. With so much focus on the other problems of the world, these animals continue to rove the jungles of Africa and terrorize and kill. There must be a more coordinated and serious effort to kill or capture Joseph Kony and his LRA.
The other thing with this is that if you look at the concentration of incidents (heat map), you can get a basic idea where the LRA operational area is. This is where a drone or satellite should be pointed, and a task force could be on call, just waiting to pounce on these guys as soon as movement or activity gets seen or reported.
Or how about we take every village that has ever been attacked by these scum in these areas, and do a massive lion hunt type operation? If you can flush the LRA out of their hiding spots, and set up ambushes or blocking forces to kill them, then that might be a good use of the thousands of people who would love to see their destruction. There is strength in numbers, and something like this would empower the people.
The other thing I like about this service is that data like this will help those who want to defend against the LRA. If you can see the main group moving closer to a village, then that village could be warned and the children and women could be hidden. Every little tip and report, is a vital piece to this game. The design of the website and service also reminds me a lot of Ushahidi. Check it out. –Matt
LRA Crisis Tracker
The LRA Crisis Tracker is a real-time mapping platform and data collection system created to bring an unprecedented level of transparency to the atrocities of the Lord’s Resistance Army.
Using information sourced from Invisible Children’s Early Warning Radio Network, UN agencies, and local NGOs, this tool allows for better response from governments, policy-makers, and humanitarian organizations.
This joint project, developed by Invisible Children and Resolve, marks the first time data surrounding the crisis has been comprehensively aggregated and made publicly available.Website here.
LRA Crisis Tracker Introduction from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.