Members of the Women’s Advocacy Network’s Rwot Lakica Women’s Group pose with Jeff Korondo, 7 February 2014 in Gulu. Lindsay McClain Opiyo/Justice and Reconciliation Project.
On 6th September 2016, 12 WAN group representatives from the six groups from Adjumani, Pader and Lira districts that are supported by the MacArthur Foundation project on ‘‘Redress for Sexual Gender Based Violence on Conflict Related Wrongs’’ will be trained on community theatre. The objective of the training is to strengthen survivor networks and prepare them on how to effectively use community theatre to address their challenges like the different aspects of revictimisation towards survivors of conflict SGBV.
The training will cover the importance of using theatre, theatre as a way of healing and reconciliation, developing skills for advocacy using theater, documentation of theatre processes, publicizing the theatre, planning, logistics and lobbying for support. Participants will also be trained on how to plan for community theatre performances and this will cover aspects of sharing and analyzing other’s stories, creating theatre performances, directing and rehearsing performances, mapping resources for the theatre activity, conducting theatre performances and evaluating performances.
It is hoped that the knowledge and skills gained will be utilized and demonstrated by the respective groups during the upcoming community dialogues in October 2016 to engage communities in preparation for their forthcoming outreach events in their respective communities viz, dialogues with the community and leaders.
Since theatre is a simple way of communicating sensitive and complicated issues in the community spaces, group members will use songs, drama, art and poetry to communicate to communities what they have not been able to do using mere words.
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.
A member of Awe Ikoko Women’s Group in Lira demonstrates to her group members how she plans to save money according to the Saving With a Purpose plan.
A week ago the JRP team conducted financial management training in Aromo sub-county with members of Awe Ikoko Women’s Group one of the groups under the Women’s Advocacy Network housed by JRP. The objective of the training is to impact knowledge to victims of SGBV in five WAN groups to have increased agency to plan for their future, know about savings and credit options in their communities and to learn how to make a savining with a purpose to fund their income generating activities.
We also aim to ensure that the women understand the benefits of business planning and how to manage the performance of business planning as well as how to record manage performance of business through record keeping. The training we did in Aromo training focused on saving with a purpose, record keeping, investment decisions, planning for the unexpected.
The training was facilitated by an expert in the field of village and loan saving scheme (VSLA) who really used different approaches from lecturing to sharing of experiences and then group discussions where the participants expressed themselves to have understood what was taught. This was witnessed on how they were able to demonstrate individually their business plans and how they will be able to invest through saving with a purpose.
One woman said she will save 2,500 shillings every week for six months alongside the normal VSLA scheme to enable her buy a goat and then use the same procedure to acquire what she has not been able to acquire before.
Post-training
Post training the women of Awe Ikoko said they will put the knowledge gained into good use by planning well and investing in things where they are able to realize profits which was not the case before, keep record of their investments like farming, VSLA, Saving With a Purpose (called ‘SWAP’ for short) as others have always used their money to buy clothes.
The significance of this training is that the women will be able to share their knowledge with other women in the community. As a member of the group stated: “I will go and teach my daughters in law about the knowledge have acquired today, as this is very crucial to help plan for the future.”
A member said this knowledge is going to build their capacity as a group and individual members in their household which will ensure sustainability and independence of the group at one point in time.
Communities can provide for themselves if their capacities are built and trained basic concepts. Looking at the training, the women are hard working and are doing things like farming but they did not have the knowledge on how to invest in it and use proceeds to enable them get the basic needs in life which they have longed for.
Victoria Nyanjura is a Project Assistant with JRP’s Gender Justice department.
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.
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.
Last Thursday, the Justice and Reconciliation Project launched “Establishing the Extent of SGBV Revictimisation among Female Survivors of Conflict SGBV in Northern Uganda”, a report on a baseline study assessing redress on providing redress for SGBV on conflict related wrongs.
The study was conducted in May and June 2014 to inform JRP’s 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 Adjumani, Pader and Lira districts.
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. It sought to establish the diverse nature and extent to which SGBV revictimisation targets and affects war-affected women in the aforementioned districts. In doing so, it sought to determine the:
Extent to which SGBV of today targets war-affected women;
Causes and consequences of SGBV revictimisation in war-affected communities; and
Perceptions and knowledge of the women and community regarding SGBV and SGBV revictimisation.
Perceptions and knowledge of the women and community regarding SGBV and SGBV revictimisation.
The launch and roundtable discussion on the findings of this survey was held in Lira on 24 November with members of a consortium of civil society organisations funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and women representatives of Adjumani, Pader and Lira districts in attendance.
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.
