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.
Members of the Women’s Advocacy Network present during a dialogue between war-affected women and cultural leaders on the reintegration of children born of war in northern Uganda, held in Gulu on 28 April 2016.
JRP and the WAN hold dialogue on reintegration of children born of war
GULU – Children born of war and their mothers still face challenges reintegrating into their communities and families in northern Uganda. This was the key message sent during a dialogue between cultural leaders and war-affected women organized by the Women and Advocacy Network and the Justice and Reconciliation Project on 28 April 2016 in Gulu.
The event, which brought together participants from Acholi, Lango, Teso and West Nile, offered a space for women survivors of conflict to share their experiences with representatives of cultural institutions from the Greater North.
The dialogue was punctuated by a presentation from the WAN members appealing to cultural leaders to help reintegrate children born of war into their communities.
Nighty, a member of the WAN, spoke about how when she returned home from the captivity of the LRA she discovered that a child of hers she had been separated from had been mistakenly placed in the home of another family on his return.
“I would like you, my elders, to help let my child come back home,” she asked the cultural leaders in attendance.
The WAN spoke at length about the difficulties they and their children are undergoing today. Many children are unable to trace their patrilineal lines and are consequently unable to access land and other life necessities that are linked to their fathers.
On their return home, some children have either not been reunited with their actual families or have been taken in by the wrong families. As explained by WAN Chairperson Evelyn Amony, this has partly been so because while in captivity their parents would have used fake names to protect their families back home. On return, this has created a problem for mothers, fathers and children eager to trace families that were separated.
Poverty also was cited as the biggest social problem facing children born of war and their children, with facilitating education and health care provision being very hard if not impossible. The issue of land is yet another problem, with children and their mothers landless due to stigma and poor community acceptance.
In attendance of the event was His Highness Drani Stephen Musali Izakare, the Lopirigo of Madi, who appealed to the cultural leaders present to address the issues that arose during the discussion.
“Culture is not static, [it] is dynamic and cultural change is inevitable and welcome where change is needed,” he said, “In Madi, there’s no right way to have a child because children are all of ours.”
At the close of the event, the WAN members and the cultural leaders in attendance worked together to come up with action points for how cultural institutions could be better involved in the reintegration of children born of war.
Some of the commitments generated during the group discussions included to hold clan meetings to create clan laws that would prohibit stigma within communities, integrating war-affected women and their children into cultural leadership at community level and collectively engaging the Ugandan government to address the issues raised.
On 28 August 2015, families of the missing, religious and traditional leaders, and civil society marched through Lira to commemorate the International Day of the Disappeared as part of JRP’s The RIght to Know campaign.
On August 28 2015, JRP organized a dialogue with representatives of family of the missing from four sub-regions of West Nile, Teso, Acholi and Lango as part of a campaign to create awareness for missing person in Lira called ‘The Right to Know’. This started with a procession from Lira District Chambers through the streets in Lira and later to Apostolic Centre with the people like religious leaders, traditional leaders, families of the missing and other civil society organizations like African Youth Initiative Network, Justice and Peace Commission, Northern Uganda Media Club, Concerned Parents Association and several media persons to spread the messages of the family of the missing.
A short prayer was made by Pastor Martin Odongo after a representative of the four sub-regions lit a candle. The burning candles were a symbol of light in the life of those who had gone missing.
During remarks given by JRP Head of office JRP Boniface Ojok, there was emphasis on the importance of recognizing the 30th of August as a day in remembrance of those who have disappeared in Uganda. Mr Ojok spoke about the need for the government to incorporate the issue of the missing persons in its policy in order to meet the social, legal and to a greater extent economic challenges facing the missing and their families. This is because, he said, the issue of the missing can be a long term impediment to peace. JRP’s 2014 policy brief, ‘The Right to Know – Policy Recommendations for Addressing The Rights of The Missing and Their Families in Northern Uganda’ reflected this by providing recommendations for acknowledgment of the missing persons, a comprehensive policy in regards to missing persons, and support for ongoing research outside of the scope of the brief.
When representatives of the families of the missing of across northern Uganda spoke at the event, many said that they are living with trauma, stigma, land conflict and lack of family support. Because there has been little acknowledgment of the issue of the missing as being important the families live in pain and isolation with feelings of anxiety for information on the whereabouts of their children.
During the Acting Resident District Commissioner for Lira and District Security Officer, Frank Madulo’s speech, he acknowledged the work of JRP in advocating for the missing and their families by making its calls victim oriented. He further made mentioned that he will ensure that the government acknowledges 30th August being the day for the disappeared persons. to support the families of the missing and to incorporate the issue of the missing persons in Uganda’s forthcoming Transitional Justice (TJ) policy.
Joyce Abalo is a Project Assistant with JRP’s Community Mobilisation department.
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.
Cover of the first edition of JRP’s Voices magazine
This is the first issue of the Justice and Reconciliation Project’s (JRP) latest publication, Voices magazine. JRP’s mission is to empower conflict-affected communities to participate in processes of justice, healing and reconciliation, and this magazine aspires to do just that. By providing a regular, open platform for victims and key stakeholders to dialogue on local and national transitional justice developments, we will be “sharing victim-centered views on justice and reconciliation in Uganda” each quarter.
The theme of this first issue is amnesty. With Uganda’s Amnesty Act up for expiration, renewal or renewal with amendments on 24 May, we have sought to present the views of the war-affected communities where we operate. In this issue, key stakeholders like Michael Otim of the International Center for Transitional Justice (pg 13), Ismene Nicole Zarifis, International Technical Advisor on TJ for JLOS (pg 6,) and members of the JRP team address the important question: What should be the future of Uganda’s Amnesty Act? Like all of our work, we hope this collection of views contributes to the policy-making process currently taking place in Kampala, and links the grassroots with the decision-makers.
JRP's Lino Owor Ogora gives leads the stocktaking exercise at the reparations dialogue
The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), in collaboration with the Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP) and the Soroti Development Association & NGOs Network (SODANN), held a one-day dialogue on reparations for victims of conflict in northern Uganda on Thursday, August 25, 2011, at Landmark Hotel in Soroti. The event was attended by 25 participants from across the greater North, including Teso, Lango, Acholi, Karamoja and West Nile sub-regions. Facilitators shared presentations on a range of topics relating to reparations, including a conceptual overview of reparations programmes, engendering reparations, international and domestic legal frameworks for reparations, stocktaking in the represented sub-regions, victims’ perspectives, the Kenyan experience, the relationship between reparations and development projects and building consensus and a way forward. Throughout the event, there were also opportunities for participants to share their views and experiences and ask questions or provide comments on the facilitators’ presentations. The majority of participant feedback is captured in the five Discussion sections of this report.
On September 16th, 2011, the Justice and Reconciliation Project facilitated survivors and families of those killed in the 1989 Mukura massacre to hold a community theatre performance on a transitional justice issue of their choice. The performance was part of our ongoing engagement with the Mukura Memorial Development Initiative, or MUMEDI, and the Kumi Network of Development Organizations, KUNEDO, and aimed at generating discussion among the community on how to best seek justice and reconciliation after the conflict in the area. The drama’s script and theme was entirely drafted by the actors.
This drama is also part of a community theater pilot program through JRP’s Community Mobilization department. Other similar performances have been facilitated in Lukodi, Abia and Yumbe, and videos will be posted in the coming weeks.
On Friday, September 16, 2011, JRP facilitated survivors and families of the 1989 Mukura massacre to hold a community theater performance. The performance was part of an ongoing engagement with the Mukura Memorial Development Initiative (MUMEDI) and aimed at generating a discussion on how to best seek justice and reconciliation after the conflict in the area. The drama’s script and theme of reconciliation with the President of Uganda was entirely drafted by the actors.
On September 16th, JRP facilitated a community theatre presentation in Mukura by survivors and families of the deceased of the 1989 Mukura massacre. An Etop/New Vision journalist, Godfrey Ojore, attended the event and captured the community’s call for reconciliation with the government in a 4-minute radio feature that aired on Etop Radio on the 16th.
By Godfrey Ojore
Intro (Translated from Ateso): After 22 years of pain after losing the beloved ones, Mukura massacre survivors, widows and widowers have accepted to reconcile with government. In 1989 during insurgency in Teso region, soldiers rounded up people suspected to be rebels and herded them into a train wagon before setting fire beneath it. 69 people perished while many sustain serious injuries. Last year government sent a compensation of 200 million to Mukura. So how exactly do the survivors of the Mukura massacre want to reconcile with government? Etop radio’s Godfrey Ojore now answers that question in the following report. (Cue feature)
To listen to the feature report in Ateso, click here.
This policy brief assesses the gender‐specific transitional justice (TJ) needs of survivors of gender‐based violence in Northern Uganda.
From November 2010 to February 2011, the Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP), in collaboration with the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR), organized a series of consultations with victims of conflict in Northern Uganda, entitled ‘Enhancing Grassroots Involvement in Transitional Justice Debates.’ The consultations, held in the Acholi/Lango, Teso, and West Nile sub‐regions, focused on truth‐telling, traditional justice, reparations and gender justice within the context of Uganda’s transitional justice processes.2 As part of the consultations, a separate session was held on the topic of gender justice and the extent to which it does / does not presently feature in Uganda’s transitional justice framework. Discussions at the consultations highlighted the need for Uganda’s unique gender relations and dynamics to be closely scrutinized and taken into consideration by policy‐makers in the development of transitional justice mechanisms.
The Justice Law and Order Sector (JLOS) is currently developing and implementing an accountability and reconciliation framework to deal with the legacies of conflict in Uganda. With the progress in the establishment of the International Crimes Division (ICD) of the High Court, JLOS has undertaken a series of consultations in order to propose law and policy reforms in line with its mandate. This process presents an excellent opportunity to critically examine and document the widespread occurrence of gender‐based violence in Northern Uganda and the vast implications on individuals and communities.
This policy brief describes gender‐based violence, its occurrence and effects on local communities during and after the conflict in Northern Uganda, as well as the needs of the victims as expressed during the JRP‐IJR consultations. It concludes with a series of recommendations to the Government of Uganda through the Justice Law and Order Sector.
