Category Archives: Reports

Child tracing in post-conflict northern Uganda: A social project to unite children born of war with their paternal clans

Grandfather receives his children home as he directs them to step on an egg, the children are expected to break the egg in a symbol of cleaning and getting rid of the evil spirits that a person could be having.

This report is the result of collaboration between the Women’s Advocacy Network (WAN) and the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs (SPPGA) at the University of British Columbia (UBC), with the support of the Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP).

The original research for the report was envisioned to focus on women’s experiences of seeking reparations for sexual violence, funded by the PWIAS, at the University of British Columbia. Through a process of consultations with WAN members, however, the process of child tracing emerged as a social project considered vital to the well-being of children born as the result of forced marriages in wartime.

At the time of writing, child tracing activities were on-going at various stages outlined in the report. Mothers and their children, some now young adults, initiated the process of child tracing on their own. With the assistance of WAN members and networks, community leaders and non-governmental organizations such as JRP and Women’s Initiative for Gender Justice (WIGJ), these informal efforts received wider social support, particular with funding to the initiative from WIGJ between 2016-17.

The report involved a review of secondary data collected by WAN and JRP, including reports, recordings and video-tapes, field notes, and interviews and focus group discussions with WAN members and child tracing team leaders and project officers at JRP and WAN. It is intended to highlight the process and possibilities of child tracing for stakeholders.

It was supported by the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies (PWIAS) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Partnership Grant (SSHRC PG) Conjugal Slavery in War (CSiW): A partnership for the study of enslavement, marriage and masculinities.

Researched and written by: Tinashe Mutsonziwa, Ketty Anyeko & Erin Baines in Vancouver, Canada and Grace Acan & Evelyn Amony in Gulu, Uganda.

Download this report here (Pdf).

Gender Equality for All: A Report Based on a Consultative Dialogue with Stakeholders in Northern Uganda on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence

Gender Equality For All

This report is a result of a consultative dialogue between JRP, its partners and stakeholders. It focuses on the complex spectrum of conflict-related violence that continues to affect marginalised victims and survivors of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) in Uganda.

We acknowledge that, albeit its importance,the dearth of initiatives on SGBV calls for an increase in interventions on conflict related SGBV in northern Uganda. The report argues that violence in general is intertwined with structural impediments that continue to pervasively affect societies in Northern Uganda long after the conflict ended. Inherently the continued prevalence of SGBV is a result of inequality that exists due to unequal power relations between men and women in matters such as land ownership, decision-making and community leadership, among others. Added to this is the importance of acknowledging that the widespread effects of rape and other forms of sexual violence such as forced marriage often result into unwanted pregnancies and children which leaves the majority of women suffering. Among young women who have returned from LRA captivity, the report also looks at the phenomenon of Children Born of War (CBW) whose needs and aspirations are often rarely factored into research and policy.

This report is a result of a series of consultations with stakeholders to disseminate the results of research findings based on fieldwork that JRP undertook over the past two years with funding from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. It incorporates the workshop deliberations in Lira, Gulu and Adjumani, outlining some of the critical steps necessary in SGBV programming for women, men and CBW as a result of the LRA conflict in Northern Uganda. Part of the vision that is critical for renewed programming is laid out at the end of the report that largely points out that women, men and children should co-exist in mutually empowering relationships; where all are valued as equal and active players in transformative gender relations emanating from social, cultural and economical barriers in society.

Key areas for programming

After engaging participants over three separate days, the following key areas for programming on SGBV were identified:

Embracing new dimensions on victimhood: Participants noted that everyone irrespective of sex or age can become a victim of SGBV. During conflict times, men too have become targets of SGBV, although the incidence remains prevalent among women and girls in Northern Uganda. More often than not, the mention of SGBV during conflict evokes images of women raped, but not the child born as a result of that rape. In terms of programming, children too must be seen as primary victims of rape, there is a chance that they shall be left out.

Coordination among stakeholders: It is vital to build synergies with other stakeholders, as this would eliminate the disconnect between the various aspects of programming. In particular, coordination is crucial between aspects such as redress for SGBV and others like humanitarian assistance and national/regional development; education; and health. In this way it is possible to identify linkages that are important for subsequent programming and how one programme can make a contribution to others.

Multi-sectoral response: There is need to embark on a multi-sectoral approach by ensuring that all partners play a role in prevention and response of SGBV in order to address unequal power relations that exacerbate violence and entrenches aspects of vulnerability for women, men and children. The multi-sectoral model calls for a holistic inter-organisational and inter-agency effort that promotes participation of all persons concerned and coordination across sectors, including (but not limited to) health, psychosocial, legal/justice and security.

Comprehensive and long-term response to violence: The importance of looking at the bigger picture of violence in Uganda and capturing its entire spectrum was emphasised. This would ensure that the exclusive focus on SGBV does not reinforce the perspective of women as victims, but also looks at the history, dimensions and manifestations of the conflict that spanned from pre-colonial times and was entrenched along racial and regional lines by successive regimes during periods following independence. This therefore calls for prioritising long-term approaches to address the root causes of conflict through a gendered lens.

Capacity building, empowerment and sensitisation: These are crucial avenues to ensure that the right human resources and expertise in dealing with SGBV are available; the local population is well informed to be able to challenge unequal power relations; and that crimes related to gender are openly acknowledged and taken on by society in order to avoid re-victimisation. This would go a long way in ensuring there is collective action at the community level as opposed to continuous dependence on outside support.

Participation and local ownership: It is important to realise that violence usually occurs within a cultural space. It is within these spaces that we need to articulate the needs of victims and survivors. Redress for SGBV should therefore avoid top-down models of programming such that planning, design and implementation resonate with local communities, ensuring that their practices and perceptions are taken into account without reinforcing the cultural identities of men as superior beings. It is also important to integrate programming in ways that are more inclusive and broader taking into consideration the gender perspective of the roles of men and women.

Download this report here (pdf).

Mapping Regional Reconciliation in Northern Uganda: A Case Study of the Acholi and Lango Sub-Regions

Mapping Regional Reconciliation in Northern Uganda: A Case Study of the Acholi and Lango Sub-Regions

Mapping Regional Reconciliation in Northern Uganda: A Case Study of the Acholi and Lango Sub-Regions
Mapping Regional Reconciliation in Northern Uganda: A Case Study of the Acholi and Lango Sub-Regions

 

Led by Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP), with funding support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Supporting Access to Justice, Fostering Equity and Peace (SAFE) programme, this report, titled Mapping Regional  Reconciliation in Northern Uganda: A Case Study of the Acholi and Lango Sub-Regions, examines key conflict drivers at the sub-regional and community levels in the Acholi and Lango sub-regions, specifically, and northern Uganda more broadly, and identifies effective mechanisms for constructive social change processes towards regional reconciliation. It is a significant step towards comprehensively identifying and analysing obstacles to positive peace and reconciliation in the region to ensure that post-war recovery, reconciliation and development interventions are conflict-sensitive and aligned with the social, political and economic needs of the communities.

The report also identifies strategic and effective mechanisms to foster regional reconciliation in ways that value embedded local capacities, narratives and forms of agency in the communities. The report concludes by highlighting recommendations directed to key actors across the horizontal and vertical axis of the society, eliciting a multi-stakeholder approach to engendering sustainable structures of lasting peace and reconciliation in the Acholi and Lango sub-regions.

Download this report here: Mapping Regional Reconciliation in Northern Uganda (pdf)

Grassroots Perspectives on Amnesty

Report on Community Dialogues Conducted in Koch Goma Sub-County (Acholi Sub-Region), Abia Sub-County (Lango Sub-Region), Obalanga Sub-County (Teso Sub-Region) and Romogi Sub-County (West Nile Sub-Region) to Gather Grassroots Perspectives on Amnesty in Uganda

From the 7 – 29 October 2014, the Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP) on behalf of the Uganda Law Society (ULS) conducted four community dialogues in the sub-regions of Acholi, Lango, Teso and West Nile in northern Uganda to solicit grassroots perspectives on Uganda’s Amnesty Act of 2000. The dialogues were conducted as part of a wider research project being implemented by the Uganda Law Society to inform the drafting of a future Model Amnesty Law for Uganda. This report provides a summary of the views and perspectives gathered from these dialogues. Detailed transcriptions of the dialogues are also attached as annexes.

Download this report here (pdf).

2014 Annual Report

Justice and Reconciliation Project, 2014 Annual Report
Justice and Reconciliation Project, 2014 Annual Report

The Justice and Reconciliation Project’s 2014 Annual Report presents the organisation’s activities and their impact in 2014 under four objectives derived from JRP’s 2010-2014 five year strategic plan. Read how the memory of conflict affect communities was preserved, communities were mobilised to engage in peacebuilding processes, vulnerable groups were supported in their pursuit of justice and victim-centred transitional justice was advocated for this year.

Download: 2014 Annual Report (pdf)

Establishing the Extent of SGBV Revictimisation among Female Survivors of Conflict SGBV in Northern Uganda

Establishing the Extent of SGBV Revictimisation among Female Survivors of Conflict in Northern Uganda – Report Summary on a Baseline Study and Pre-Project Assessment on Redress for SGBV on Conflict-Related Wrongs
Report Summary on a Baseline Study and Pre-Project Assessment on Redress for SGBV on Conflict-Related Wrongs

 

This baseline study seeks to determine the extent to which revictimisation affects female survivors of conflict sexual- and gender-based violence (SGBV) in northern Uganda. The information gathered will inform the Justice and Reconciliation Project’s (JRP) project, “Redress for Sexual- and Gender-Based Violence on Conflict-Related Wrongs” which aims to support transitional justice (TJ) efforts of female survivors of SGBV in the northern Ugandan districts of Adjumani, Pader and Lira, and the project of our partners under a consortium funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. In addition, we intend for these findings to inform the work of the Justice, Law and Order Sector (JLOS) of the Government of Uganda (GoU), as they establish a national TJ policy to provide remedy and redress for victims of Uganda’s many longstanding armed conflicts. The baseline operated under a simple, yet alarming observation, based on JRP’s years of working with conflict victims: war-affected women are continuously targeted for sexual- and gender-based crimes.

In this summary, we provide an overview of the methodology and conceptual frameworks that were used in developing this baseline, as well as the key findings and conclusions that emerged. 

Read the report here: Establishing the Extent of SGBV Revictimisation among Female Survivors of Conflict SGBV in Northern Uganda (pdf)

2013 Annual Report

2014 Annual Report cover 06
JRP’s Annual Report outline’s the organisation’s activities in 2013 under four key areas: 1) the preservation of memory of conflict-affected communities; 2) advocacy for locally sensitive approaches to transitional justice; 3) mobilisation of communities to engage in processes of redress, reconciliation and healing; and, 4) supporting vulnerable groups and individuals in their pursuit of justice.

Download: 2013 Annual Report (pdf)