All posts by Nancy Apiyo

“They kept saying I had no place.”

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How a family reunion has brought closure and healing

“I didn’t know that there is an organisation that resurrects the dead,” said Oweka’s great aunt this past March.

This is a common saying by the families with whom we have been conducting the reintegration of children born of war through family reunions. These children are being looked at as a replacement of their dead relatives or those who have gone missing. During the two decade conflict in northern Uganda thousands of people were killed and abducted and many are still missing up to date. Reuniting the children of the deceased or missing with their relatives is a means by which communities are filling in the void caused by the loss of their loved ones and attaining closure and healing.

A sense of belonging, identity and access to land

Oweka and his mother had been searching for the home for the last five years until they approached the Women’s Advocacy Network for help in late 2016. His mother had returned from captivity with him in the womb and they had been living with his step family from the time he was born. He has been experiencing rejection from his mother’s marital relatives and his step-siblings.

Oweka’s mother had wanted him to reunite with his paternal family so that he could have a sense of belonging, identity as well as access to land. This is because of the patrilineal culture that is embedded in the community where Oweka is from: here, children belong to their father’s lineage and boys are expected to inherit land from their fathers in order to establish their own families.

Reunions as an integral aspect of reintegration

Since January 2016, 19 children have so far been reunited with their relatives by the members of the Women’s Advocacy Network together with the Justice and Reconciliation Project in partnership with the Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice. Family reunions are an integral aspect of the reintegration of children born of war and their mothers. This is because families are a source of support and welfare, allow for access to land and provide a sense of identity.

In the absence of a formal, state-run transitional justice process local initiatives such as family reunions are ways in which communities are transitioning from the two decades of war in northern Uganda. These initiatives are helping to fill in the vacuum so as to address the legacies of the conflict.

Restoring fractured relationships

Family reunions also ultimately contribute towards reconciliation by allowing maternal and paternal families of the children to come together contributed towards building and restoring relationships that were fractured during the conflict. They also complement other ongoing programs aimed at fostering peace, reconciliation and ensuring proper reintegration of war affected persons in Northern Uganda.

Oweka met his paternal relatives for the first time on the 2nd of March 2017 in the out skirts of Kitgum town. He was welcomed in the home with a thanksgiving prayer amidst celebration and joy. One of the family members said on the day, “We thank God for the grace that has made Oweka return home.” He will now be supported by one of his cousins to join a prestigious boarding school in the area.

During the reunion Oweka said, “They kept on saying I had no clan and a place to belong but now I am at my father’s roots.”

Gender inequality is not only an African issue

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My experience for the past four weeks during the US Department of State sponsored professional fellowship program as a gender advocate has made me learn that gender issues are the same around the world. The internship at Safe Passage, an organization in Northampton working towards preventing and responding to sexual and domestic violence, in particular has made me learn that men and women all over the world are still subjected to norms on masculinity and femininity that at times lead to violence and hinder their active participation in society.

Equality is a journey

Biases in cultures and norms on masculinities and femininity are experienced in all societies and gendered dynamics and issues of power and control are a global phenomenon. They are not only an African issue. I have been intrigued by the fact that despite the differences between northern Uganda and Massachusetts, and the fact that the US has not experienced war recently, both societies still face similar gender challenges. I have observed that equality is a journey that the world is still travelling, even if there has been a lot of progress, and that it is still very important for institutions to strategically plan to handle gendered dynamics that affect access to justice for vulnerable groups.

Dealing with trauma and conflict

Other than the subject of gender, I have also learnt that humans have basic, natural approaches to deal with trauma and conflict. These approaches are universal and cut across all societies. It is encouraging to learn that familiar approaches are being used in other societies across the globe to resolve conflict or support individuals and communities transitioning from a conflict related setting. Hearing from psychologists, professors and activists about storytelling, dialogues and  the need for safety as methods used to support survivors deal with trauma has been encouraging. These are methods we have been using at the Justice and Reconciliation Project for years as tools for research and psychosocial support.

Local approaches to transitional justice

A visit to South Bronx in New York where I met individuals who used storytelling as a healing process for a community that had been experiencing gang related crime, domestic violence and teenage pregnancy was very enriching. I have gained confidence in the local approaches to transitional justice we use knowing that someone else around the world is doing the same. It is also interesting to learn that humans regardless of their race, color, religious beliefs and economics look out for similar approaches of healing and moving forward after conflict. This to me shows that we are all the same and more reason to work towards equity.

Redress for survivors of SGBV in northern Uganda is still a challenge

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In northern Uganda during the long-standing conflicts, sexual violence was perpetrated against men and women, boys and girls at an unprecedented rate by state and non-state actors and civilians. Violence during the war included rape, forced marriage and pregnancy, sexual exploitation and sexual molestation by rebels. When there is conflict, survivors of sexual violence face a number of challenges, such as meaningful reintegration in the community, rejection and re-victimisation in the society. Others, on the other hand, experience physical, psychological and economic re-victimisation, such as marital abuse, rape, domestic violence, fear of the unknown, trauma and poverty.

After the incidents of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), women were left with children they bore. Many of the women do not know the whereabouts of the children’s fathers. With no meaningful support from the local government, these women are left to care for their children singlehandedly. Lack of support for the children has been a cause of more psychosocial harm for the mothers who struggle daily to care for their children amidst social rejection, abuse, poverty, economic constraints, as well as other challenges.

There is an increase in domestic violence due to poverty, alcoholism and other war related factors. Survivors of SGBV encounter violence in their marriage. They are stigmatised by co-wives, in-laws and even husbands. Domestic violence evolves as a result of female barrenness due to rape and/or sexual molestation and HIV/AIDS contracted during war. Some survivors of SGBV are blamed for HIV in the marriage, especially if it is known that they contracted the disease after being raped. Some men blame the women for health issues they have contracted, even if it is not certain that they have been infected by their partners. For women who cannot give birth as result of complications that arose after the sexual violence, this is a source of re-victimisation, leading to violence and abuse in their homes.

According to research conducted by the Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP) in 2015 ( the report is yet to published) with 103 female survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, because of the lack of social support, SGBV survivors rely on their own constructive/positive coping mechanisms to prevent and minimise chances of re-victimisation.

In the absence of social support, some survivors adopt negative coping mechanisms, such as abuse of alcohol and other substances. One of the women we interviewed stated that she was not an alcoholic before her abduction. However, after she returned from captivity, she became an alcoholic who would fight with her husband if he refused her alcohol. According to her, alcohol was her source of psychological consolation and a way of dealing with the stigma she faces.

Despite a number of programmes to support SGBV survivors, there are a number of challenges that impede survivors’ access to redress and justice in the community. These challenges include systematic barriers, such as customary laws, the marginalised role of women in the community, poverty and complicated legal procedures. These challenges prevent women from obtaining justice and redress in the communities they live in. There is also a need to reinforce the principle of transitional justice to ensure a smooth reintegration process and redress for SGBV survivors into the community by providing reparations in order for them to have a better life.

Reintegration of children born of war thanks to family reunions

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The two-decade war in northern Uganda was characterised by various forms of sexual violence against women, such as rape, sexual exploitation and forced marriage. Many children were born as a result of these crimes, and this has had a profound effect on women. Now that a relative peace has returned to the region, one of the ongoing reintegration challenges is dealing with the identity of the children who were born in captivity or a result of sexual violence. Many of their patrilineal ties are unknown. But in Acholi culture, like in many areas in Uganda, a child’s identity is linked to his or her father. In addition, many of these children are now constantly asking their mothers and other family members about their identity and the whereabouts of their fathers.

The children find that not knowing their home is a painful aspect of their sense of identity. In Acholi culture, children are born into their paternal family and thus acquire the identity of that clan. Additionally, boys can expect to inherit land from their fathers in order to establish their own families. In Acholi culture, knowing one’s “home” (paternal village) is an integral component of social belonging, according to a Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP) field note on children born in captivity (2015). Family members are part of the child’s well-being and therefore play an important role in reintegration. Family connections often provide comfort, key survival resources and a sense of belonging. This has made family reunions an important aspect of reintegration for children born in captivity and their mothers. Family reunions do not only help in reintegrating the children but also contribute to the reconciliation process in communities. Many families acknowledge that, according to cultural and social norms,children should know and have a relationship with their paternal lineage.

Convention on the Rights of the Child

According to research conducted since 2005 by JRP among women who were affected by war, the issue of children’s identity is an important justice issue. When the Women’s Advocacy Network (WAN) was formed in 2011, one of its objectives was to advocate the promotion and respect of the rights of children who were born during the war and/or born as a result of forced marriages involving women who had been abducted. Children’s identity was one of the issues that WAN raised in a petition to the Ugandan parliament in 2014. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly in November 1989, states that a child should be cared for by his or her parents and that children should preserve their identity, including family relations.

Reuniting children with their paternal or maternal relatives is a way to rebuild life and relations after conflict for both women and children. Some of the reasons that women give for the importance of reuniting children with their families include pressure from children who have grown up and want to know their relatives, access to land for children born of war, supporting children born in captivity to get to know their relatives and thus avoid incest in future, obtaining family support for children born of war and supporting children born of war have a sense of belonging and identity.

Challenges of the reunion process

The family reunions are not always easy to arrange. One peculiar challenge in the reunion process has been use of pseudonyms by commanders. In addition, people who were abducted often concealed their real identities in order to protect their families from retaliation by the LRA for alleged “mistakes” that they had made. This has made it difficult, in some instances, to locate the homes or relatives of the children.

Since 2011, WAN and JRP have reintegrated numerous children with their paternal and maternal families. From January to July of 2016 alone, nine children were reunited with their paternal families. This has enabled children and their mothers to rebuild their lives. Families have also been able to reconcile for the sake of the children.

Nancy Apiyo is a project officer in the Gender Justice Department of the Justice and Reconciliation Project.

This article was originally published on Let’s Talk, Uganda.

Using radio to talk about reintegration of children born of war

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Women participate in a radio talkshow in Kumi to talk about the reintegration of children born of war.
Women participate in a radio talkshow in Kumi to talk about the reintegration of children born of war.

On the 17th of July, two members of the Women’s Advocacy Network and two survivors of SGBV from Kumi district participated on a radio talk show at Continental FM. The talk show was organized by the representative of the Iteso Cultural Union and Teso Kumi Women’s Peace Initiative to create awareness of the challenges that children born of war are facing and lobby for support from the community about their reintegration. It was also used as a platform to engage the communities on the challenges that war affected women are facing in the community such as stigma, lack of access to land and the ongoing suffering they face in taking care of the children and break silence around these issues. This was aimed at ensuring communal acceptance of children born of war and their mothers.

Three months earlier, on the 28th of April, during a dialogue that was held in Kakanyero Hotel in Gulu between cultural leaders and war affecting women across the northern Uganda region, cultural leaders pledged to use radio as a tool to sensitize communities about issues affecting children born of war and their mothers. The dialogue provided a platform where war affected women engaged cultural leaders about the reintegration challenges they and the children are facing as a result of the conflict. The talk show was a fulfillment of an obligation by one of the cultural leaders.

The Women’s Advocacy Network continues radio talk shows as platform to engage communities on issues affecting war affected women and their children to support their smooth reintegration in the communities.

We Accept Our Own Blood: Reintegrating Children Born of War through Family Reunions

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In 2014 when members of the Women’s Advocacy Network petitioned the Ugandan Parliament for redress for harms caused by years of conflict in northern Uganda, the identity of children born war was a key issue they raised. The issue is not only important to mothers but to their children as well who find that not knowing their relatives is a painful void in their sense of identity.

During one of visit to a family, one mother, a member of WAN, told us: “My daughter kept on asking about her paternal relatives and I promised her I would get the home and grant her wish.”

Reuniting children born of war with their families, therefore, is in a way a form of redress since it contributes to rebuilding life and relations after the conflict.

In the past few years, the WAN has been approached by several women who were abducted, former commanders of the LRA, relatives of children born in captivity and survivors of sexual violence in camps to support them in mediation and tracing for the maternal or paternal families of the children. This year, its members with the support of JRP and Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice have conducted 10 dialogues and visits with families of children born of war. The objective has been to ensure mutual understanding of the reintegration process by both maternal and paternal families, reconcile families and ensuring acceptance of the children.

In some cases, lack of acceptance of children born of war in new marriages that their mothers are in has made mothers want to bring their children together with their paternal families. During one of the pre visits one of the mothers whose child had been suffering in her new marital home said, “My child is not wanted in my home.  She was bewitched and is now paralyzed.”

Children are also being reintegrated so that they can have access to land, have an identity and a sense of belonging as well as have family support. Some of the children have also now grown up and asking for whereabouts of their relatives.

In all the families where dialogues were carried out the idea of reintegrating children was welcomed. The children are also a source of closure in the families from the loss of their sons and daughters. During one of the dialogues a relative of a deceased former commander said, “… his children are his resurrection.”

The idea of children being a ‘resurrection’ of their dead parents was common in all the families that dialogues took place. A clan leader in one of the families said, “We want the child, he will stand on behalf of our lost child.”

Children are also accepted in respect and honor of dead relatives. A family member in one of the homes said, “We accept our own blood and cannot refuse them. Perhaps the spirit of the dead will haunt us if we don’t.”

Tracing of the homes of the children has been difficult due to challenges because in LRA captivity people often used fake names and concealed true information about their families. Sometimes there is also lack of support from relatives who fear that they might lose the bond they have with the children once they get to know their other relatives. This is especially common with maternal relatives and in laws.

Despite these challenges, this is an opportunity for children who want to to fully reintegrate in their communities through family reunions. This year we plan to help 12 children reintegrated in their families.

Lukodi: justice and reparation can bring healing and reconciliation

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A man speaks during a dialogue in Lukodi village, Gulu on 2 June 2016. Credit: Niklas Jakobsson/Let's Talk, Uganda
A man speaks during a dialogue in Lukodi village, Gulu on 2 June 2016. Credit: Niklas Jakobsson/Let’s Talk, Uganda

On the 19 May 2004, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) raided the village of Lukodi, and carried out a massacre that led to the deaths of over sixty people. Lukodi village is located seventeen kilometres north of Gulu,. It is one of the many villages in northern Uganda that suffered from persistent LRA attacks.

On 2 June, Let’s Talk, Uganda – a platform for conversations about justice and reconciliation – organised a dialogue with the people of Lukodi. The message from the 160 attendees was clear: “When gross human rights violations occur, then justice and reparation can bring healing and reconciliation”. The objective of the dialogue was to gather community perceptions and stories from the community. Ahead of the dialogue, the community members suggested a list of topics they wanted to discuss:

  1. Do you think it is important to repair the lives of people after the conflict?
  2. Can justice bring healing?
  3. Is it right for forgiveness to take place after a conflict or problem has occurred?
  4. Is the government thinking about the people in Lukodi?
  5. Is it right to provide counselling for people in war-affected areas?

 

Some of the issues that arose during the dialogue were that for forgiveness and reconciliation to take place, there is need for justice to prevail and reparations to occur.  A community member said ‘where killings have taken place and there is so much sorrow then justice must first prevail. Then the heart of forgiveness can be there. Justice brings about healing. The government should pay families that lost their people to bring about healing.’

Community Voices

Another said ‘forgiveness is very difficult when there has been a mass killing.  In my opinion, there should be forgiveness for justice to occur.  I can forgive if someone accepts the wrong they did and justice has prevailed. When killings take place and there is so much sorrow, then justice must prevail for the heart of forgiveness to be there.’

Another said ‘if your life is repaired, you can heal. Those who committed crimes should be punished’. Members cried out that these steps should not be delayed. A woman said ‘many people are dying. More than 50 people who filled in the form have died’.

Communities also said that psycho-social support is an important aspect of reparations. However, they also said that counselling and psycho-social support should be coupled with economic support. One participant said ‘even if you are counselled, as soon as the counselling is finished and you cross the road, you will be reminded that you have no wealth, your child is being chased from school. She/he may sleep hungry’. They also attributed the use of traditional justice mechanisms to support people in rebuilding life after violations occur.

A long and painful conflict

Northern Uganda has experienced conflict for over twenty years, the result of a civil war waged mainly between the rebels of the LRA and the government of Uganda (GoU). The impact of the conflict has been devastating, with over 1.8 million people forced into IDP camps. There has been tremendous loss of lives and the abduction of over 38,000 children by the LRA to serve as child soldiers and sex slaves. Lukodi, like many other villages in northern Uganda, was severely affected by the conflict.

Today, the community is still facing the brunt of the conflict and this dialogue is designed to highlight the challenges they continue to face. The goal is to generate a conversation throughout the country in order to create awareness and a lobbying mechanism for support.

This article was originally published on Let’s Talk, Uganda.

Holding Dominic Ongwen’s confirmation of charges hearing in The Hague is a missed opportunity

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Community members participate in a memorial for the Lukodi massacre of 2004, Lukodi 19 May 2015.
Community members participate in a memorial for the Lukodi massacre of 2004, Lukodi 19 May 2015.

For many years the issue of justice related to the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA)-Government of Uganda war has been a farfetched dream for communities affected by it until the recent arrest and transfer of alleged LRA commander Dominic Ongwen to the International Criminal Court (ICC). On the 28th of October 2015, however, the Presidency of the International Criminal Court (ICC) made a decision that a confirmation of charges hearing for Dominic Ongwen’s case scheduled for 21 January 2016 will be held at the seat of the court in The Hague and not in Gulu town as had been recommended by the court’s Pre-Trial Chamber II. This is disappointing because holding the hearing in the community affected by the atrocities for which Ongwen is alleged to have been responsible for was a huge opportunity to provide closure for victims.

In northern Uganda, there is a disconnect between the ICC and the communities to which it aims to serve. Despite outreach programs on the ICC, many people here do not understand the work of the court and the justice remedies it can deliver to them. This gap between the affected community and the court could have been filled by holding this hearing in Gulu since it would have brought the justice process closer to them while allowing the work of the court to be experienced by people who have been affected by the conflict. It would have gone a long way to address negative perceptions about the court which are held by many people in the communities in northern Uganda and in Africa in general. Also, it would have been an opportunity to stir up action on justice processes in Uganda such as stalled proceedings at the International Crimes Division of the Ugandan High Court.

That said, the ICC Presidency’s decision not to hold the confirmation of the charges hearings in Uganda during the peak of the political season is a good one given the brutality, chaos and violence that is usually associated with Uganda’s election period. In the past, Uganda’s political campaigns and elections have been marred with violence which could possibly interfere with the court processes.

Nevertheless, it is important that the court continues to work to find ways to bring its work closer home in the future.

Nancy Apiyo is a project officer with JRP’s Gender Justice department.

Breaking the silence through community dialogues on SGBV

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The chairlady of Amapara women’s group addressing the community in Aringapi subcounty on 8th October 2015 on the challenges that survivors of SGBV are facing in the community.
The chairlady of Amapara women’s group addressing the community in Aringapi subcounty on 8th October 2015 on the challenges that survivors of SGBV are facing in the community.

In the past three weeks, JRP’s Gender Justice Department has conducted dialogues in the communities of Adjumani, Pader and Lira districts. The dialogues are part of activities under a project that aims at ending re-victimization of survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and providing redress for the challenges they face with funding from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

The dialogues were an opportunity to openly talk about sexual violence and break the silence that surrounds it since silence around SGBV and the social challenges connected to it make women more vulnerable and often compounds their suffering. Due to the stigma that is attached to SGBV, survivors are usually hesitant to speak and ‘die’ in silence. It is this stigma that has contributed to the under reporting of the crime to authorities or to even family members leading to little or no interventions in communities. Stigma leads to a lack of justice for survivors and is also a source of other human rights abuses such as domestic violence. Opening community spaces to talk about what for generations has been known as a taboo is contributing towards the re-integration of survivors of SGBV in the communities.

A day before each of the community dialogues would begin in their respective communities, survivors engaged their local leaders so that the leaders are able to understand their plight and support them to cope and reintegrate in the communities. Issues that needed the intervention of the whole community were discussed the following day during the dialogue. Community leaders, who include clan elders who are respected people in the community and who play key role in changing community attitudes, then joined hands with survivors to talk to the community on issues such as stigma on survivors of sexual violence and rejection of children born as a result of sexual violence. Using drama and songs, survivors were able to communicate what would have otherwise been difficult to talk about given the social norms around sex and sexual violence that exist in their communities. Following the dialogues some community leaders came up with resolutions to handle re-victimization such as through by-laws dealing with stigma and which would allow for those who insult survivors of SGBV in the community to be arrested.

The community dialogues are aimed at undertaking survivor led engagement with the community and developing a positive attitude towards survivors of SGBV. This is to ensure that future transitional justice efforts towards SGBV are communally owned and supported.  We are also glad to say that women in communities were dialogues took place last year reported reduction in stigma.

Women establishing a new peace agenda

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From 26 April to the 2May 2015, Women’s Advocacy Network chairperson Evelyn Amony and I travelled to The Hague to attend a conference organised by the Women’s International League for peace and Freedom (WILPF). The trip was organised by Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice (WIGJ). This conference was aimed at bringing together hundreds of women peacemakers from all over the world to establish a new peace agenda for the 21st century. Members who attended the meeting joined other international activists to celebrate the work of women peace makers all over the world. One of the outcomes of the conference was a resolution condemning bombing, blockading and the use of explosive weapons in populates areas in Yemen.

During this period we also attended the launch for the WIGJ publication Women’s Voices.  During the launch of the WIGJ publication Evelyn shared her experience as a female survivor of the war in northern Uganda and discussed  how she has managed to pick up and become an advocate for gender justice r with other women.  She also shared about the work of the Women’s Advocacy Network.

We also participated in an open lecture at the Interntional Criminal Court premises with the prosecutors, investigators, analysts and advisors to the prosecutor on the conflict in northern Uganda. We shared our experience working towards ensuring victim-centred justice with the ICC team, including the aspect of reparation, reconciliation and victim’s involvement.  We also shared about the dynamics of the conflict in northern Uganda were a victim can also at the same time a perpetrator.

Read more about the work of the Women’s Advocacy Network here.