Category Archives: Field Notes

Engaging Men and Boys in Redress for Conflict-SGBV in Northern Uganda

Field Notes, , , , , , , ,

 

Engaging Men and Boys in Redress for Conflict-SGBV in Northern Uganda, JRP Field Note 25, March 2017
Engaging Men and Boys in Redress for Conflict-SGBV in Northern Uganda, JRP Field Note 25, March 2017

This report presents the findings and recommendations from widespread consultations by the Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP) on the conflict experiences of men and boys in northern Uganda and how to effectively engage them in redress for conflict sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV).

In the last 10 years in which JRP empowered conflict-affected communities in Uganda to participate in processes of justice, healing and reconciliation, especially through the Women’s Advocacy Network (WAN), most interventions explicitly targeted women and girls. This was largely because women and girls disproportionately suffered from conflict SGBV. Consequently, men and boys were minimally engaged in redress.

Preliminary discussions that JRP held with the communities in which it works revealed that men and boys often felt neglected in recovery interventions by civil society and government institutions. This led to their resentment and even hostility towards women and girls who were beneficiaries of post-conflict programmes and services.

In August 2015, JRP set out to better understand how men and boys could be engaged in redress for conflict SGBV in northern Uganda. The consultations explored the gendered experiences of men and boys during and as a result of the armed conflict; how it affected gender relations in communities and homes and how men and boys have been and could in future be engaged in redress.

A total of 161 respondents in Dzaipi sub-county in Adjumani district, Atanga sub-county in Pader district, Agweng sub-county in Lira district, and Gulu Municipality in Gulu District were consulted. A desk review was also done to assess comparative models for engaging men in gender-based violence prevention and response.

Key findings revealed that members of the community recognised men’s indispensable role in promoting gender equality and supported male engagement in redress for gendered conflict experiences as well as their involvement in the discourses for TJ, healing and reconciliation.

The recommendations focused on four key areas of improving relationships between women and men in the community; providing greater acknowledgment and redress; engaging men in redress for their experiences; and for engaging men in redress for women’s gendered experiences. The specific recommendations are summarised below under each are of focus.

Improving relationships between women and men in the community

  • Create safe spaces for men and women to discuss issues together such as meetings and gatherings where they would face each other and learn lessons together.
  • Organise community dialogue on gender and dealing with the past.
  • Provide mixed-sex trainings on conflict resolution and gender equality whereby the men and women would be educated together to reduce on the level of conflict in the homes.
  • Promote group sensitisation and peer support for members in the community.
  • Form initiatives for conflict mediation, healing and reconciliation through, for instance, peace building groups of duty bearers, communal meals and prayers for reconciliation and forgiveness.
  • Attend religious associations.
  • Provide support towards economic empowerment through livelihood projects to uplift people from abject poverty.
  • Enforce laws strictly especially those prohibiting alcoholism.
  • Establish rehabilitation centres to offer psychosocial support, counselling, grassroots information and education.
  • Advocate for behavioural change to address moral decadence across all the communities attributed to encampment and urbanisation.
  • Provide reparations and/or assistance to victims of conflict.
  • Create community projects to bring people together and provide information.

Providing greater acknowledgment and redress

  • Create community projects in a way that will not only acknowledge the pain of the war but also bring people together.
  • Form groups for collective advocacy especially in seeking material support for recovery; for training; truth telling and reconciliation,
  • Identify and engage male activists to understand their rights and responsibilities as well as create a better understanding of men’s problems in order to get solutions.
  • Integrate men’s empowerment into programmes of development partners and stakeholders by involving them in community meetings and WAN groups.
  • Put in place peer support forums for men to speak out and share their problems and concerns.
  • Implement community and family projects as a means of providing acknowledgement and redress.
  • Increase support towards formal and vocational education/training.
  • Implement affirmative action targeting men and boys in development and reintegration projects.
  • Provide reparation in terms of social services by government as well as awareness creation and legal aid services by NGOs.
  • Collect information on numbers and current status of conflict survivors to inform project design and funding support to enable them to receive appropriate support and redress.
  • Set up rehabilitation centres for psychosocial support to children and adults with mental health issues.

Engaging men in redress for their experiences

  • Form male groups for them to get counselling, gather and share opinions on issues concerning them, with influential or role models leading advocacy for the groups and mentoring members.
  • Form mixed groups of men and women so that they can share experiences.
  • Involve men and boys in training, workshops and other experience-sharing activities of WAN and other stakeholders.
  • Engage role models to educate fellow men about the importance of groups; inspire and encourage them to air out their concerns and demand their right to receive recovery support.

Engaging men in redress for women’s gendered experiences

  • Engage men in their spouses’ group activities so that they are informed and their understanding is enhanced on women’s redress issues in order for them to advocate for women’s rights; curb domestic violence and give views on how to support women.
  • Train men and build their capacity on peace building.
  • Initiate group projects of men and women for them to understand women’s rights; have a common understanding of goals; and share how to collectively achieve them.
  • Advocate for behavioural change to refrain from gossip and instead get involved in meetings where women share their stories, experiences and issues.
  • Involve men and women in joint Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA) as a way to achieve economic independence and in order to allow them to prepare well for their future and that of their children.
  • It is hoped that through the report, future interventions that mainstream gender equality would address not only women’s gendered experiences, but also that of men and boys, ensuring that efforts for recovery and rehabilitation do not exclude or undermine men’s and boys’ gendered experiences.

Improving relationships between women and men in the community

  • Create safe spaces for men and women to discuss issues together such as meetings and gatherings where they would face each other and learn lessons together.
  • Organise community dialogue on gender and dealing with the past.
  • Provide mixed-sex trainings on conflict resolution and gender equality whereby the men and women would be educated together to reduce on the level of conflict in the homes.
  • Promote group sensitisation and peer support for members in the community.
  • Form initiatives for conflict mediation, healing and reconciliation through, for instance, peace building groups of duty bearers, communal meals and prayers for reconciliation and forgiveness.
  • Attend religious associations.
  • Provide support towards economic empowerment through livelihood projects to uplift people from abject poverty.
  • Enforce laws strictly especially those prohibiting alcoholism.
  • Establish rehabilitation centres to offer psychosocial support, counselling, grassroots information and education.
  • Advocate for behavioural change to address moral decadence across all the communities attributed to encampment and urbanisation.
  • Provide reparations and/or assistance to victims of conflict.
  • Create community projects to bring people together and provide information.

Download this field note here (pdf)

Coping Alone: Personal ways of seeking redress for survivors of conflict-SGBV

Field Notes,
Coping Alone Personal ways of seeking redress for survivors of conflict-SGBV, JRP Field Note 24
Coping Alone: Personal ways of seeking redress for survivors of conflict-SGBV, JRP Field Note 24

For over 20 years, the people of Northern Uganda, especially women and children, have been direct victims of a conflict between the Government of Uganda and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels. Thousands of victims suffered violations related to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV).

Numerous studies have documented the increased acknowledgment of and response to the prevalence of SGBV during conflicts worldwide as well as the nature of these violations.  Despite this, little is known about the ways in which survivors of conflict SGBV seek redress and justice for their experiences, how they cope with the aftermath of the violence and the challenging obstacles they face in so doing. Findings suggest that even after wars and conflicts formally end, survivors of SGBV continue to experience re-victimisation and human rights violations in their respective local communities.

This field note draws upon 12 individual and group storytelling sessions with 103 survivors of conflict SGBV from Adjumani, Pader and Lira districts. It narrates survivors’ search for redress for SGBV during and after conflict and identifies the emergent patterns and themes across narratives. It concludes with recommendations for government, community and civil society stakeholders in order to increase survivors’ access to redress and accountability during and after conflict.

This field note is organised into 3 sections that narrate the stories of conflict SGBV survivors in search of redress during and after conflict, and identify the emerging patterns and themes across narratives. It also highlights ways in which survivors through their own initiatives cope with daily re-victimisation. The report concludes with recommendations for local government actors, the community and civil society stakeholders for increasing survivors’ access to redress. Names of the survivors have been changed in the field note for confidentiality purposes.

Key findings

  • The search for redress for survivors of SGBV is impeded by a number of factors which are mainly physical, psychological, socio-cultural and economic.
  • Due to lack of social and familial support systems, survivors of SGBV turn to their own ways of survival, some of which are non-constructive and not uplifting.
  • The attainment of redress is faced with physical, psychological, socio-cultural and economic challenges.
  • The accounts of SGBV survivors indicate that re-victimisation includes stigmatisation, rejection by family members, fending for children alone, domestic violence and land grabbing.
  • Constructive way of attaining redress or coping include peer support, counselling and psycho-social support, livelihood means, talking to couples, divine inspiration such as prayers and support from local authorities.
  • Non-constructive ways of coping or attaining redress include alcoholism, drug abuse, isolation and aggressiveness.

Recommendations

Highlighting the factors that should be taken into consideration for the benefit of survivors of SGBV, the field note presents the following recommendations:

Community leaders should ensure that reported cases of sexual violence and other forms of human rights violation within the communities are prosecuted.

Community leaders should establish support systems for all survivors of SGBV; resolve the daily challenges they encounter; as well as facilitate their search for redress and full reintegration within the communities.

Social conditions should also be adequately improved in order to provide for SGBV survivors at least the basics such as education, access to training as a means of capacity building and jobs to support themselves.

Stakeholders should foster and encourage counselling groups since it was established that counselling was an effective trajectory through which redress can be obtained for many victims.

Training and psychological preparation of the community which is vital in ensuring that returnees are not re-victimised or rejected both by the communities and their families or regarded as threats.

Community leaders should strongly advise against the practice of abuse of women and girls by establishing a supporting system and/or a platform that implicitly tackles women and girls’ abuse and inequalities in the communities and homes.

Download this Field Note here (pdf).

We Are All The Same: Experiences of children born into LRA captivity

Field Notes, ,
We Are All The Same: Experiences of children born into LRA captivity
We Are All The Same: Experiences of children born into LRA captivity

Children born into the captivity of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) remain a largely neglected and overlooked child survivor population. The children who successfully transitioned out of the LRA exist on the margins of their society, stigmatised and with limited life opportunities. This field note offers a review of the lives of 29 such children living in the urban centre of Gulu town, drawn from a three-year project documenting their lives. While the children have developed strategies to conceal their true identities, this report determines ways to support their future well-being, while simultaneously contributing to the reconciliation process of their communities.

The research findings include:

The children face significant stigma from communities, peers, and even at times from family members, including violent abuse from stepfathers, so they employ strategies to keep their identities secret. Those whose fathers are top commanders still at-large fear for their safety if their fathers are captured. Other children do not know their lineages and long to connect. All the mothers find it difficult to tell them the realities of their identities. Despite such stigma and uncertain identities, the children insist they are the same as other children.

Support from family members is vital to their sense of well-being, especially with their mothers whom they love deeply. Many children lost siblings in the bush.

Many children live with memories and trauma. They remember the violence from the bush and feel the loss of a parent, or of both parents. Remembering is triggered by sadness resulting from quarrelling, beatings, or sickness. For some, their memories are physically embodied and manifest as spiritual problems, or psychosis. All the children who remember employ strategies to forget.

Religion is important in the children’s lives and prayer offers them a form of meditation to help them quiet their minds, while church provides them with a welcoming place to be among friends.

Children are unlikely to access their land inheritances, and they feel hopeless.

The children dream of a bright future for themselves, but the layering of their unique hardships on top of the significant poverty they live in makes that unlikely.

The children found the project to be transformative. The participatory action research methodology and opportunity to play enabled deep friendships to develop while the children learned about themselves, their mothers, and how to manage their identities and challenge intergenerational problems.

A number of the children’s rights have been violated and require redress. They should be active agents in processes of transitional justice.

Important recommendations:

  1. Documentation of children born into LRA captivity must continue and should include records of children who died.
  2. Broad community sensitisation initiatives must be implemented.
  3. The children must be appropriately engaged to identify needs and peer support activities such as this project should be expanded across the region.
  4. Mothers must be empowered with livelihood skills and grants.
  5. Fathers must be held accountable for support of their children.
  6. The government must support the children so they grow into productive citizens

Download this Field Note here (pdf): We Are All The Same – Experiences of children born into LRA captivity 2015-12-22

 

My Body, A Battlefield: Survivors’ Experiences of Conflict Sexual Violence in Koch Ongako

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My Body, a Battlefield: Survivors' Experiences of Conflict Sexual Violence in Koch Ongako
My Body, A Battlefield: Survivors’ Experiences of Conflict Sexual Violence in Koch Ongako

Sexual- and gender-based violence (SGBV), especially in the context of protracted conflict, continues to be one of the least accounted for crimes in Uganda and the world. In January 2013, the Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP) embarked on a process to document, through storytelling and other participatory methods, the experiences of conflict sexual violence that occurred during more than two decades of conflict between the Government of Uganda (GoU) and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in Koch Ongako, a community in Gulu district, northern Uganda. The purpose of the exercise was to document and acknowledge these violations and their long-term consequences on the lives of male and female victims and the community in which they live, to help survivors come to terms with the past, and to inform policies and processes to provide redress and accountability. It is envisaged that this document shall inform and feed into national processes for transitional justice (TJ), both in terms substance and the participatory process used to engage victims.

Download this publication here: My Body, A Battlefield 2015-12-01(pdf)

Forgotten Victims: Recounting Atrocities Committed in Odek Sub-County by the LRA and NRA

Field Notes, , , ,
Forgotten Victims - Recounting Atrocities Committed in OdekSub-County by the LRA and NRA_SM
Forgotten Victims: Recounting Atrocities Committed in Odek Sub-County by the LRA and NRA, JRP Field Note 21, November 2014

In its efforts to document the voices of the victims of the conflict in northern Uganda, based on the belief that through facilitating communities to tell their stories in their own terms and words not only helps to bring some relief to the victims but also contributes to better inform transitional justice processes, the Justice and Reconciliation Project launches this field note as a first step to acknowledge what happened in Odek sub-county. The purpose of this report is twofold. First, it seeks to make visible the atrocities committed by the NRA and the LRA in Odek and how it affected the lives of individuals and the community as a whole. Second, it aims to show how Odek is silently fighting another war; the war that comes with stigmatisation and exclusion. This report shows how the impact of the war continues to affect the daily lives of the people of Odek, and undermines its prospects of achieving lasting peace and reconciliation.
Read this entire report here: Forgotten Victims (pdf)

 

It Was Only the Gun Speaking, With a Pool of Blood Flowing The Ombaci Massacre: June 24, 1981

Field Notes, , ,
It Was Only the Gun Speaking, With a Pool of Blood Flowing: The Ombaci Massacre: June 24, 1981 JRP Field Note 20, June 2014
It Was Only the Gun Speaking, With a Pool of Blood Flowing: The Ombaci Massacre: June 24, 1981
JRP Field Note 20, June 2014

Located just 4 kilometres north-west of Arua town on the Kaya Highway/Rhino Camp Road, in Arua District is Ombaci College. On Wednesday, June 24, 1981, the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA) attacked civilians who had taken refuge at Ombaci Colleges, claiming the lives of close to 100 people and leaving countless wounded.

This report presents a detailed account of what took place during the Ombaci Massacre and the lasting effect it has had on the survivors based on individual interviews and focus group discussions with survivors and relatives of the victims.

The massacre was by all accounts extremely chaotic, with groups of soldiers entering from all sides of the school and mission, and roving from room to room shooting and looting. This highlights the challenges survivors continue to face and make a number of recommendations which arose from our interviews, chiefly a call for compensation of survivors, as well as support for livelihoods, education, and reconciliation.

Read the entire report here:

Ombaci (English)

Ombaci (Lugbara)

Occupation and Carnage: Recounting Atrocities Committed by the NRA’s 35th Battalion in Namokora Sub-County in August 1986 FN XIX, March 2014

Field Notes, , , , , ,
Occupation and Carnage Recounting Atrocities Committed by the NRA’s 35th Battalion in Namokora Sub-County in August 1986 JRP Field Note XIX, March 2014
Occupation and Carnage
Recounting Atrocities Committed by the NRA’s 35th
Battalion in Namokora Sub-County in August 1986
JRP Field Note XIX, March 2014

Namokora is located 56 kilometres east of Kitgum town and is one of the sub-counties that frequently come up when there are discussions or debates regarding state orchestrated abuses in northern Uganda. On the 19th of August 1986, the 35th Battalion of the National Resistance Army (NRA) allegedly massacred up to 71 men and women from Namokora and other surrounding sub-counties in a lorry at Wiigweng in Oryang village, and Namokora sub-county. These men and women were accused of being rebel collaborators and/or having plans to oust the newly formed NRA government in Kampala.

Herded into the lorry, over 89 civilians founded themselves being piled onto each other with hardly any space as they were driven to an unknown destination while being closely followed by a white pickup filled with armed NRA soldiers. After driving for about three kilometes, they were indiscriminately shot at, resulting in the death of 71 men and women and the injury of scores of others. Since burials did not happen immediately after the shooting most of the bodies were feasted on by dogs and other beasts within that area.

This report provides narratives of key events leading to the Namokora massacre of 1986 based on the testimonies of survivors and relatives. It also looks at developments in that community from 1986 to date and makes specific recommendations to the government and non-governmental organisations to provide compensation to the survivors of the massacre, to address the health consequences of the NRA operation in Namokora and to support the formation of a community based victims support groups.

Read the entire Field Note here: Namokora (pdf)

The Beasts at Burcoro – FN XVIII, July 2013

Field Notes,

Recounting Atrocities by the NRA’s 22nd Battalion in Burcoro Village in April 1991

The Beasts at Burcoro - Recounting Atrocities by the NRA’s 22nd Battalion in Burcoro Village in April 1991, JRP Field Note XVII, July 2013
The Beasts at Burcoro – Recounting Atrocities by the NRA’s 22nd Battalion in Burcoro Village in April 1991, JRP Field Note XVIII, July 2013

Located 16 kilometers northeast of Gulu town, in the sub-county of Awach, Gulu District, lies the quiet village of Burcoro. Despite its apparent tranquility, a sinister past remains hidden behind the welcoming faces of its inhabitants. Between the 14th and the 18th of April 1991, Burcoro was the scene of a brutal operation carried out by the 22nd Battalion of the National Resistance Army (NRA) in which several hundred people were detained at Burcoro Primary School. They were released only after being interrogated, tortured, and sexually abused throughout the four days of the operation.

This report presents a detailed account of the events that took place on those fateful days in April 1991 based on individual interviews and focus group discussions with victims and survivors. It also explores the enduring challenges they face, including not knowing the whereabouts of relatives that were taken by the soldiers and chronic health issues arising from their ill treatment. We highlight the plight of men and women who were abducted, widowed or raped as part of the operation, and note the Government’s responsibility and unfulfilled promise to properly compensate the victims and their relatives.

Lastly, the report makes specific recommendations based on discussions with the affected community members which are directed at the GoU and relevant stakeholders in the region. These call for government to apologize, hold the perpetrators accountable, and provide compensation to victims, while civil society should support the community’s desire to put in place a memorial and help meet their healthcare needs.

Read the entire Field Note here: Burcoro (PDF)

Gender and Generation in Acholi Traditional Justice Mechanisms – FN XVII

Field Notes, ,
Gender and Generations in Acholi Traditional Mechanisms – FN XVII, November 2012

Throughout the LRA conflict women and youth faced grave atrocities such as gender-based violence, forced marriage, and disruption of education and economic opportunities. These women and youth risk being omitted from justice and peace debates in Uganda if their unique experiences and reintegration challenges are overlooked. Acholi traditional justice mechanisms, especially mato oput and nyono tong gweno, are often promoted as a locally appropriate approach to address these issues in northern Uganda. Despite this, little has been documented about the attitudes of women and youth towards traditional approaches and the impacts of these practices on their processes of healing and recovery.

Based on opinions gathered from focus group discussions and individual interviews with war-affected women and youth throughout Acholi sub-region, this report explores the relevancy of traditional justice mechanisms to the unique justice, reintegration and reconciliation needs of women and youth. It also discusses their current role in the decision-making and negotiation process of traditional justice mechanisms, and whether that role sufficiently represents their needs and opinions in the healing process. Finally, specific policy recommendations are offered to key stakeholders on ideal ways to address and incorporate the concerns of women and youth into traditional justice mechanisms.

Read the entire report here: Gender and Generations in Acholi Traditional Mechanisms (pdf)

 

 

Paying Back What Belongs to Us – FN XVI, October 2012

Field Notes
Paying Back What Belongs to US – FN XVI, October 2012

This report serves to illuminate the current state, emergence and development of different victims’ groups and associations throughout the Greater North of Uganda, and to highlight their activities and demands. Victims and survivors in the sub-regions of West Nile, Acholi, Lango and Teso currently struggle to access necessary support to rebuild their lives and communities. Against the backdrop of those victims’ challenges, different groups and associations were formed to advocate for victims, channel their demands for compensation and articulate their otherwise silent voices. However, despite the overwhelming number of individual survivors and victims, the number of organized groups or associations is limited.

Although often established with the intention to advocate and lobby for compensation, the majority of local victims’ groups have surrendered their quest for reparations to larger, more powerful and comprehensive claimants’ bodies. Groups at the community level instead concentrate on economic and income-generating activities for short-term benefit. Although debates about Uganda’s need for a national reparations and compensation policy continue on a professional level and within academic discourse, victims’ voices and the views of organized victims’ groups are rarely considered or acknowledged. This report, therefore, aims to inform policy-makers, the government, stakeholders on the ground and local leaders about the current state of victims’ groups in northern Uganda.

Read the entire report here: Paying Back What Belongs to Us (pdf)