Children play as part of an innovative project documenting the lives and experiences of children born into LRA captivity. Photo courtesy of Beth Stewart.
PRESS RELEASE 4 February 2016
GULU- Children born into the captivity of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) must be mainstreamed as partners and agents in post-conflict reconstruction say researchers from the Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP) in Gulu.
According to a newly published field note by JRP titled “We Are All the Same: Experiences of children born into LRA captivity”, children born into the captivity of the LRA experience life in ways that are unique to their identities and should be addressed specially in transitional justice.
“We Are All the Same”, is based on an innovative three year project documenting the lives of 29 children aged between 11 and 15 living in the urban centre of Gulu by researchers Beth W. Stewart and Aloyo Proscovia. The report documents the lives of the participating children between 2011 and 2014, presenting some of the first extensive narrative accounts of the views and experiences of children born into captivity following reintegration.
Based on the views and experiences shared by the participating children, the report provides recommendations for the Ugandan government as well as civil society to address existing gaps, including supporting linking the children with their extended families, and ensuring that their fathers, who in some cases reportedly earn government incomes as soldiers, pay child support.
“As northern Uganda moves further away from its experience of active war, the ramifications continue to be lived each day,” researcher Beth Stewart says, “Without measures to address the needs and rights [of children born into LRA captivity], the violence of the war continues.”
The field note and project are part of JRP’s continued work to ensure the participation of children as victims of conflict, with unique experiences, challenges and voices, in processes of justice, healing and reconciliation. It follows research exploring the reintegration challenges of children born of war and their mothers and an initiative that engages survivors, communities, opinion leaders and policy-makers on providing redress for sexual- and gender-based violence survivors.
JRP’s 23rd Field Note,We Are All the Same: Experiences of children born into LRA captivity documents the views, experiences and hopes of 29 children living in the urban centre of Gulu over the course of a three year project. In this blog, researcher Beth W. Stewart reflects on the process and the lessons learned from the children that participated.
“I want to ask, why are you writing this?”
Every year the same boy asked us this same question. To my research assistant and I, the reason seems obvious: children born into the LRA, like this boy, have unique identities, experiences, and needs that are both valuable to society to understand and necessary to address. But to this boy, and the other children like him, they are just children. They laugh, love, play, learn, and dream just like everyone else. Children are children, no matter where they come from, no matter who their fathers are. And yet, there are aspects of their lives that are unquestionably unique and undoubtedly shaped by their pasts and identities. Doing a long term project with the same group of children has provided a rare and intimate look into the children’s special lives revealing why we should care about them.
The project that informed this Field Note began in 2011 after many mothers who had children born in LRA captivity repeatedly requested attention for their children. They wanted to raise awareness of their children’s needs and fight the stigma they faced. Once the project began, JRP became the safe space where the children gathered, away from prying eyes and ears. It became the one place in their lives where everyone could be open about that part of themselves, about their pasts and identities that they normally had to keep secret to avoid stigma. Also significant to the children, JRP became synonymous with a place for play. Through play and open sharing, the children made important new friends. For years now, the children have supported each other in numerous ways, from listening when times got hard to sharing their bed when the other had none. The children, who are now quickly becoming adults, continue to meet and support each other almost five years on.
An exceptional aspect of the project is not only the connections made between the participants, but also the trust and care that grew between the participants and the researchers. It’s common for research projects to begin then leave shortly thereafter, especially in war-affected areas. But this project has persisted, resulting in meaningful relationships and giving the researchers important insight into the more nuanced and vulnerable dynamics of the children’s lives. The project’s research assistant, Aloyo Proscovia, has been the crux of the project and an always caring figure in the children’s lives. This consistency is evidenced in the comfort and ease of the children that participated and also in the depth of knowledge they shared. It’s also worth noting that for the researchers, building relationships with each of these children has been an enjoyable and deeply moving process – these are remarkable children, full of laughter with so much to say.
It is difficult, however, to watch as the children’s pasts follow them into their adult lives. As northern Uganda moves further away from its experience of active war, the ramifications continue to be lived each day. The case of children born into the LRA challenges us to question if a war is ever truly over. Without measures to address their needs and rights, the violence of the war continues. This Field Note presents the children’s contributions toward educating us (readers), their communities, and their leaders about what remains to be done for northern Uganda to transition to peace. As one girl put it: “We have to be treated equally, in other words by treating us well by loving us the same way like the other children.”
Beth W. Stewart is a a PhD Candidate at the University of British Columbia.
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:
Documentation of children born into LRA captivity must continue and should include records of children who died.
Broad community sensitisation initiatives must be implemented.
The children must be appropriately engaged to identify needs and peer support activities such as this project should be expanded across the region.
Mothers must be empowered with livelihood skills and grants.
Fathers must be held accountable for support of their children.
The government must support the children so they grow into productive citizens
On 15 September 2015, the Women’s Advocacy Network (WAN) at the Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP) convened a round-table meeting between 24 local government officials and 16 WAN members. The purpose of the meeting was to explore opportunities for war-affected women to benefit from existing and proposed government programmes as an interim avenue for redress for conflict-related wrongs they experienced during northern Uganda’s longstanding conflicts. The meeting was attended by sub-county chiefs, community development officers (CDOs), district community development officers (DCDOs), chief administrative officers (CAOs) and district speakers from Adjumani district in the West Nile sub-region; Gulu, Amuru, Pader and Nwoya districts in Acholi sub-region; and Lira district in Lango sub-region.
The meeting was supported with funding from the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), through a grant from the United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence against Women as well as the Royal Norwegian Embassy (RNE), Kampala. The objectives of the meeting were to share findings of a recent needs assessment survey conducted by JRP; to explore opportunities for war-affected women under current and proposed government programmes; and to facilitate discussion between war-affected women and their leaders on matters of justice, reconciliation and redress.
This policy brief draws upon the discussions and recommendations that emerged from the meeting and seeks to inform local governments across Uganda on the avenues through which they can work within their existing mandates to better meet the unredressed justice needs of war-affected women through targeted development assistance. It is divided into four sections: a background on transitional justice (TJ) including the major development programmes in the country, conflict sexual violence and the advocacy of the WAN at JRP; the needs and challenges facing war-affected women in northern Uganda; gaps, challenges and opportunities for local governments in meeting these needs and challenges; and practical recommendations for local and national government officials, war-affected women and civil society organisations.
Welcome to this issue of JRP’s newsletter. This month we highlight work JRP’s Gender Justice and Community Mobilisation departments have been doing, including the results of research on the reintegration challenges of children born of war in northern Uganda and reconciliation initiatives in Acholi and Lango sub-regions.
Sharing victim-centred views on justice and reconciliation with JRP’s Voices
Voices is JRP’s platform for victim-centred views on transitional justice.
Since 2012, JRP’s Voices magazine has shared victim-centred views on justice and reconciliation in northern Uganda. The magazine accommodates varied views on transitional justice, peacemaking and post-conflict with issues presenting views on reparations, truth-telling, accountability and more. This month, we are launching the new face of Voices at its own website: http://voices.justiceandreconciliation.com.
You can read all older articles as well as newer articles under the Community Voices, Opinion and News sections. For submission guides and instructions on how you can contribute, contact Oryem Nyeko at onyeko@justiceandreconciliation.com.
JRP launches situational brief on children born of war
‘Children born of war’ are children that were conceived as a result of conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence. These include children born in captivity and children born of war-related rape or defilement. On 16 June, the International Day of the African Child, JRP launched a situational brief presenting the findings of research into the reintegration challenges of these children and their mothers in northern Uganda. The brief, titled ‘Alone Like a Tree: Reintegration Challenges Facing Children Born of War and Their Mothers in Northern Uganda’, is the result of consultations held with children born of war in Lango, Acholi and West Nile sub-regions of Uganda.
Alone Like a Tree also presents recommendations for stakeholders and government to take steps to address the issues identified.
JRP implements regional reconciliation initiative in Acholi and Lango
A woman speaks during a dialogue held in Abia, Aleptong district as part of JRP’s Regional Reconciliation project, 5 June 2015.
This year, the Justice and Reconciliation Project is implementing an initiative titled ‘Across Regional Boundaries: Promoting Regional Reconciliation in Acholi and Lango Sub-Regions’ with support from USAID-SAFE. The project aims to promote community conflict memory and foster reconciliation at community and regional level through community-based peace structures, dialogues and training.
Read blogs and find out more about this initiative here.
Patrick Odong, a multi-talent
Every newsletter, we’ll be profiling a member of JRP’s team. This month, Patrick Odong, our Programme Driver and Logistics Assistant is our subject.
Patrick does a lot at the Justice and Reconciliation Project: he drives its vehicles, serves as a member of its procurement committee helping with procurement of office assets and equipment, and administers JRP’s asset registry. In addition to all of this, he also helps in coordinating transport at JRP. It was this diversity that has kept him working with JRP since he joined in May 2006 as a driver.
Patrick comes from a family with a rich history of human rights advocacy – including his father who was a human rights activist – which is something that was a contributing factor to his with adapting to the organization. Witnessing JRP’s work first-hand, he says, allowed him to learn about vulnerable people on the outskirts of Gulu as well as “the flow of justice.”
“JRP was [an] organisation that worked with grassroots people so that their problems were heard.”
A highlight of his time at JRP was the exposure JRP had when a petition by the Women’s Advocacy Network (WAN) was presented to the Ugandan Parliament. “That was a real fight,” says Patrick.
Other highlights were JRP’s publication of the field notes on massacres in places like Burcoro, Atiak and Lukodi: “To be the first to come out with such things means something.”
Patrick Odong giving Women’s Advocacy Network women’s group in Barlonyo tips on how to use herbicides consignment as part of Redress for SGBV project in 2015.
Patrick has a certificate of defensive driving from Uganda Police in conjunction with Acholi Private Sector and has driving experience with NGOs for 15 years. He also has experience a teacher by profession and studied education at Gulu Core Teachers College and taught in Laroo Adra P7 school which specializes teaching deaf children. He also ran a family business and worked in the Ugandan military during the insurgency as a driver.
As an addition to Patrick’s diverse experience, Patrick has enjoyed the fact that working at JRP has allowed him to develop other skills. “Having come in as a driver I was given access to other opportunities – like communications skills.”
Patrick wants to see the women JRP works with have justice in the future. He wants to live in a peaceful environment. What is Patrick’s goal for the future? “My goal is having peace.”
Photo: Giving women’s group in Barlonyo tips on how to use herbicides consignment in 2015.
Peace and Conflict Calendar – Previous and Upcoming dates
Acholi Pii Massacre, 4 July 1996
Mukura Massacre, 11 July 1989
Mucwini Massacre, 22 July 2002
Namokora Massacre, 16 August 1986
See the rest of JRP’s Peace and Conflict Calendar here.
Connect with JRP
Thank you for reading this update! Continue to connect with us on our LinkedIn page. Also, remember to visit our website for our latest blogs and updates on transitional justice developments in northern Uganda and Africa’s Great Lakes region. You can also participate in the discussions on our Facebook page and on our twitter profile!
Alone Like A Tree: Reintegration Challenges Facing Children Born of War and Their Mothers in Northern Uganda
Women in northern Uganda suffered various forms of conflict-related sexual- and gender-based violence (SGBV) during the region’s longstanding armed conflicts. These have resulted in ongoing forms of re-victimisation, including those associated with the lasting effects of bearing and caring for children born as a result of conflict sexual violence, what this briefing terms “children born of war” (CBW). Unfortunately, acknowledgment and redress for CBW and their mothers is largely lacking in the transitional justice (TJ) in Uganda.
The Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP), a Ugandan non-governmental organisation that works for justice and reconciliation with grassroots communities, conducted a consultation with conflict-affected women and local leaders from September to October 2014. This was done in an effort to identify emerging needs and challenges facing CBW and their mothers so that policies and programmes can be developed and implemented to meet and address these needs. The consultation sought the views of more than 447 people and found that stigmatisation, rejection, trauma, behavioural challenges, meeting basic needs, identity and access to land continue to be major challenges facing CBW that are likely to only intensify as these children come of age.
Organised into eight sections, the briefing provides an introduction and methodological overview, background on CBW and TJ in Uganda, analysis of numbers and key challenges according to mothers of CBW and local leaders, and recommendations for the Government of Uganda and other stakeholders on what is needed to address these challenges and provide meaningful redress to CBW and their mothers.
Key findings
1,609 children (both CBW and non-CBW) between the ages of <1 to 31-years-old are being cared for the participating members of the Women’s Advocacy Network (WAN).
Eighty percent of the children older than five years old are reported to be in school, but paying school fees are reported as the number one challenge in caring for male and female CBW.
437 (27%) of the 1,609 children reported were conceived because of an act of sexual violence against the mother. 311 (68%) were conceived in captivity, 80 (18%) were conceived of rape, 33 (7%) were conceived of defilement, and 33 (7%) were conceived of sexual exploitation.
481 (30%) of the fathers of all children reported were in an armed group at the time of conception. Of the children conceived through sexual violence, 330 (88%) of the fathers were in the LRA and 46 (12%) of the fathers were in the states forces (Uganda People’s Defence Force [UPDF] or National Resistance Army [NRA]).
The primary challenges facing CBW include stigmatisation and rejection, trauma and behavioural challenges, inability to meet basic needs, identity, and access to land.
There are unique gender dimensions to the needs of CBW, with female CBW being more susceptible to sexual exploitation and abusive marriages, and male CBW being without resources for dowry and land to settle on once married. Both male and female CBW of school-going age face challenges with school fees.
Local leaders report being aware of CBW in their communities, but suggest lack of data is an obstacle to the development of programmes and policies that benefit them. There is a general belief among local leaders that CBW and their mothers access more existing programmes than they do in reality.
More data is needed on the numbers and needs of CBW in order to inform interventions, especially at the sub-county-level.
There is need to better understand the challenges facing CBW from their own perspectives, and what the women and children’s justice and redress needs and expectations are.
Every stakeholder has a role to play in addressing the challenges raised.
CBW need counselling and social support, so they can come to terms with their complex identities.
The Government of Uganda (GoU) must prioritise support to CBW and their mothers through medical care, education, child- and family-tracing, land and housing, livelihoods, and by providing equal support as men as they provide male ex-combatants.
The GoU must investigate allegations of corruption and nepotism, especially with regards to government programmes for vulnerable groups, such as CBW.
Fathers who are alive and known should be held accountable and provide child support.
More steps must be taken to involve men and the community in programmes that offer assistance to CBW and their mothers.
CBW and their mothers should be encouraged to seek unity and relief through groups and peer support.
Key recommendations
More data is needed on the numbers and needs of CBW in order to inform interventions, especially at the sub-county-level.
There is need to better understand the challenges facing CBW from their own perspectives, and what the women and children’s justice and redress needs and expectations are.
Every stakeholder has a role to play in addressing the challenges raised.
CBW need counselling and social support, so they can come to terms with their complex identities.
The Government of Uganda (GoU) must prioritise support to CBW and their mothers through medical care, education, child- and family-tracing, land and housing, livelihoods, and by providing equal support as men as they provide male ex-combatants.
The GoU must investigate allegations of corruption and nepotism, especially with regards to government programmes for vulnerable groups, such as CBW.
Fathers who are alive and known should be held accountable and provide child support.
More steps must be taken to involve men and the community in programmes that offer assistance to CBW and their mothers.
CBW and their mothers should be encouraged to seek unity and relief through groups and peer support.
On the International Day of the African Child, 16 June, special attention needs to be paid to children born of war.
Every June 16, African Union member states and their partners celebrate the International Day of the African Child (DAC) to renew efforts to improve the lives of children on the continent. In its petition presented to the Gulu District Local Government (GDLG) in August 2013, 73 members of the Women’s Advocacy Network (WAN) emphasized the challenges they are facing in caring for their children born in captivity (CBC) and of conflict-related rape. They called for comprehensive bursary packages for these children, training for teachers on how to best support these children, psychosocial support for the children, and changes in laws that require knowledge of paternal lineages. In response to this presentation, the GDLG supported the WAN in presenting a follow-up petition before the Parliament of Uganda in Kampala, which ultimately resulted in a resolution being passed by the Parliament on the plight of persons affected by the war in northern Uganda. Prayers 7 and 8 of the resolution call on Government to instate a regional mechanism to “identify, integrate and regularise stateless children born in captivity” and review laws that require information on the paternity of a child to disclosed.
Recognising the necessity to better understand the needs of these “children born of war” (CBW), a term we have adopted to refer to any child conceived as a result of conflict-related sexual- and gender-based violence (SGBV), JRP set out last year to consult WAN members and their local leaders on the needs and challenges facing CBW and their mothers. Among 380 the WAN members who participated, we documented 437 children conceived out of an act of conflict SGBV against their mothers during the war, with 88% of the fathers believed to have been members of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), and 12% of the fathers believed to have been members of the State’s National Resistance Army (NRA) or Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF).
Major challenges facing CBW include: stigmatisation and rejection, trauma and behavioural challenges, inability to meet basic needs, identity, and access to land. Further, we learned that there are unique gender dimensions to the needs of CBW, with female CBW being more susceptible to sexual exploitation and abusive marriages, and male CBW being without resources for dowry and land to settle on once married. Both male and female CBW of school-going-age face challenges with school fees. Local leaders we spoke to reported being aware of CBW in their communities, but suggested lack of data is an obstacle to the development of programmes and policies that benefit them. There is a general belief among local leaders that CBW and their mothers access more existing programmes than they do in reality.
Today, in honor of the Day of the African Child, JRP has released a briefing on the consultation findings and recommendations, titled, Alone like a Tree: Reintegration Challenges Facing Children Born of War and Their Mothers in Northern Uganda. Key findings include:
More data is needed on the numbers and needs of CBW in order to inform interventions, especially at the sub-county-level.
There is need to better understand the challenges facing CBW from their own perspectives, and what the women and children’s justice and redress needs and expectations are.
Every stakeholder has a role to play in addressing the challenges raised.
CBW need counselling and social support, so they can come to terms with their complex identities.
The Government of Uganda (GoU) must prioritise support to CBW and their mothers through medical care, education, child- and family-tracing, land and housing, livelihoods, and by providing equal support to women as they provide to male ex-combatants.
The GoU must investigate allegations of corruption and nepotism, especially with regards to government programmes for vulnerable groups, such as CBW.
Fathers who are alive and known should be held accountable and provide child support.
More steps must be taken to involve men and the community in programmes that offer assistance to CBW and their mothers.
CBW and their mothers should be encouraged to seek unity and relief through groups and peer support.
The WAN and JRP encourage additional efforts by local and national government authorities to recognise CBC and other categories of CBW, such as children born of rape by state forces, and the development and implementation of measures to meet their needs and deliver redress and justice for the human rights violations they and their mothers have faced.
Read JRP’s situational brief on children born of war here.
