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2018 | Buch

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Women in Peacemaking and Peacebuilding in Northern Uganda

verfasst von: Dr. Sidonia Angom

Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Buchreihe : The Anthropocene: Politik—Economics—Society—Science

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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The book analyses the two decades of the brutal civil war of northern Uganda. The author modified Lederach's peacebuilding framework to include peacemaking to bring out the argument that women and men make significant contributions to the peace processes and point out women’s position as top leadership actors. The book uncovers the under-emphasised role of women in peacemaking and building. From grassroots to national level, women were found to have organised themselves and assumed roles as advocates, negotiators and mobilisers. The actions by women became evident at the stalemated Juba peace talks when women presented the Peace Torch to the peace negotiating teams who on the occasion shook hands for the first time and peace was ushered in. Their initiatives and non-violent actions offer lessons to resolve civil conflicts in Africa. The book recommends that women should undergo relevant training in times of peace as this would make them more effective in times of need.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

Introduction

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. The Northern Uganda Conflict

Abstract

Conflict leaves deep scars on a country. For more than two decades the Lord’s Resistance armed conflict uprooted the people of Acholi from their homes and farms, making those affected vulnerable to insecurity, hunger, disease, and trauma. Approximately 1.2 million out of the total 1.8 internally displaced persons were from Acholi ethnic groups, representing 90 per cent of the local population forced to move by the conflict. Two-thirds of those displaced were women and children, who ended up in poorly protected camps with limited access to basic social services, such as education, healthcare, economic independence, awareness of the community human rights and land rights laws, aspects which are essential for the survival of society. The conflict was also marred by brutal sexual violence against women and children that severely resulted in more psychological trauma devastating the entire northern Uganda communities. The situation continued until 1989, when few women dared to begin talking about how to end the conflict. By 2006 the LRA and its leader Joseph Kony were pushed out of the country and into neighbouring territories and peace was restored to northern Uganda.

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Literature Review

Frontmatter

Chapter 2. Explaining Women’s Limited Involvement in Peacemaking and Peacebuilding

Abstract

Although gender-sensitive approaches to peacemaking and peacebuilding have increased in recent years, especially among scholars, in practice these processes often still fail to adequately address the countless needs of women. Historical experiences have demonstrated that the Government’s approaches to peacemaking and peacebuilding processes have had limited success because the male leaders of the warring parties negotiated the terms of peace agreements. Women, with their significant experience and skills in building trust, finding commonalities, alleviating fear and making compromises, possess the very qualities that peacemakers and peacebuilders need, yet have been accorded limited space to participate. This has had a detrimental impact on peace processes. As a matter of effectiveness, the lack of dialogue between different levels of peacemaking and peacebuilding efforts (government, civil society, women and the grassroots), combined with male domination of both war and peace, is a major reason why sustainable and positive peace has remained elusive in the world and as well in Uganda.

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Chapter 3. Case Studies of Women in Peacemaking and Peacebuilding: Empirical Evidence

Abstract

Women have contributed to stopping violence and alleviating its consequences in a range of ways: providing humanitarian relief, creating and facilitating the space for negotiations through advocacy, and exerting influence through cultural or social means. The case studies have documented women’s peacebuilding practices, the challenges and opportunities they have faced, and the lessons they have drawn from their experiences. They cover areas as far apart as Bougainville, Sierra Leone and Northern Ireland and describe women’s involvement in peace processes. Women have carried out these activities through spearheading civil society and reconciliation activities, and by highlighting how conflict impacts on their gender roles and relations. Women have responded to conflict and its effects, some of which challenged traditional female roles, by joining armed groups, both as combatants and as support, while others have taken over household and community duties normally assigned to men.

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Chapter 4. Study Context

Abstract

The roots of the northern Uganda conflict between the government of Uganda (GoU) and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) was entwined with the history of conflicts in Uganda and the rise to power of the National Resistance Movement/Army (NRM/A). The conflict persisted because of fragmented and divisive national politics, strategies and tactics adopted by the armed protagonists, and regional and international interests. The harrowing war has claimed many innocent civilian lives, forcefully displaced over 1.8 million people, and destroyed schools and health centres. The effect of the war has been characterised by widespread and systematic violations of human rights, including rape, abduction of men, women and children, torture, increased economic decay, and national and regional insecurity. The war came to an end in 2006, when peace talks between the government and the LRA resulted in a ceasefire. However, LRA’s leader, Joseph Kony, was not inclined to sign the Final Peace Agreement. Hence, a permanent ceasefire and disarmament, demobiliation and reintegration (DDR) did not occur. Subsequently, the LRA was forced out of Uganda by the Ugandan People’s Defence Force (UPDF), and has since been isolated.

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Theorical Framework and Research Methodology

Frontmatter

Chapter 5. Lederach’s Peacebuilding Framework

Abstract

The gender-sensitive methodologies, together with the three-tier peacebuilding model by Lederach, constituted the theoretical framework within which the study was conducted. Lederach’s model was modified to include peacemaking. Although gender-sensitive approaches to peacemaking and peacebuilding have increased in recent years, especially among scholars, in practice these processes often still fail to adequately address the countless needs of women and understand the complex interplay between gender, conflict, peacemaking and post-conflict rebuilding. The study was qualitative and field-based. Individual interviews and Focus Group Discussions were conducted from August 2009 to July 2011 and involved 100 key participants. Prior to the publication of the book follow-up interviews were also conducted in 2016 to ascertain new developments of events. The majority of interviews took place in the northern districts of Gulu, Kitgum and Pader, with additional interviews in Kampala with key stakeholders. In the north, a wide variety of individuals were interviewed from government and non-governmental organisations, civilian communities and the returnees trying to resettle after many years in captivity and the experience of living in the IDP camps for more than two decades.

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Research Findings

Frontmatter

Chapter 6. Peacemaking and Peacebuilding Efforts by Various Actors in Northern Uganda

Abstract

A number of cross-cutting issues emerged in northern Uganda of unsuccessful attempts by the various initiatives to end the war through a negotiated settlement. One theme that emerged consistently was the perceived reluctance of both the Government of Uganda (GoU) and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) to engage with one another in political dialogue. The GoU viewed the LRA as lacking comprehensive political objectives and called its members ‘common criminals’, while the LRA lacked trust and confidence in the GoU but trusted the spiritual ideology of its own movement. Other factors that exacerbated the situation were barriers caused by both limited channels for communication between the senior leaders and the difficulties in developing enough empathy and common language to bridge the world-views of the protagonists. Peace initiatives need to be persevered with, and not squandered or marginalised, in the efforts to bring war to an end. Ugandans and other countries that have experienced conflict have learnt the lessons of inclusiveness and flexibility, including the crucial role of women. It is argued that the role of women is an indispensable mechanism for trust and confidence-building that enhances genuine reconciliation in societies affected by conflict.

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Chapter 7. Women’s Inputs into Peacemaking and Peacebuilding Processes

Abstract

The ceasefire agreement signed in August 2006 between the Ugandan government and the Lord’s Resistance Army ended two decades of armed conflict. The efforts of many actors contributed to bringing fighting in northern Uganda to a close. The role of women in conflict resolution is often not publicly recognised or acknowledged, but in northern Uganda women have been important actors in peacemaking as well as peacebuilding processes. They have done so by organizing themselves into a civic force and assuming roles as advocates, negotiators and, most importantly, community peacemakers and peacebuilders. Remarkable contributions made by women to the peace process were during the stalemated Juba peace talks, when they arrived and presented the Peace Torch to representatives in the conflict, who on the occasion shook hands for the first time. Many informal peacebuilding initiatives were created by women that significantly responded to the problems of resettlement and reintegration of ex-combatants and children returning from captivity. This created an enabling environment for sustainable peace at the grass-roots level. Their initiatives and non-violent actions offer lessons for everyone trying to resolve civil conflicts in Africa.

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Chapter 8. Major Constraints Facing Women as Peacemakers and Peacebuilders

Abstract

Women have continued to be systematically side-lined in peacemaking, transitional justice and peacebuilding processes, even though the importance of comprehensive inclusion and involvement of women in peace and security for post-conflict societies has been adopted by UNSCR 1325. This resolution recognised the impact of armed conflict and “acknowledged the underestimated and untapped potential of women as effective decision-makers and negotiators” in peace processes. Women’s role in and relationship to conflict is complex, but they are visibly present in a number of roles, including victim-survivors, combatants, casualties, and the displaced, but also as activists against violence and conflict or as supporters. Women in northern Uganda were no exception to these challenges. To build sustainable peace, women’s rights and gender issues, including gender mainstreaming, should be acknowledged and incorporated at every stage of the peace processes. To help women better perform within peacemaking and peacebuilding processes, efforts need to be made to improve women’s education, skills and training, including strengthening women’s organisations and networks through long-term and sustainable financial support.

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Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations

Frontmatter

Chapter 9. Summary of the Findings

Abstract

Uganda has learnt from its experience of the northern Uganda conflict that women’s inputs, in terms of lobbying, peace missions, conferences, recommendations and creating forums and networks at all levels, have contributed to advance the just cause of the role and contribution of women in the various aspects of peace processes and as vital promoters of the culture of peace. Equally, researchers working in conflict and post-conflict countries around the world have cited and recognised the need to include women as active participants in peacebuilding and transitional justice processes rather than maintaining male-dominated approaches. Male-dominated approaches obscure the different and important needs of women in conflict resolution and rebuilding processes. The active participation and inclusion of women highlights the need for international and national actors to address the needs of women appropriately beyond just physical violence. Involving women on the basis of highlighting the difference, rather than obscuring it, reveals the micro-level peacebuilding needs of the women. This way any international, national, and local policy, law, and actors that aim to address and implement programmes will be effective for the whole of society, hence peace is more likely to be sustainable.

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Backmatter

Titel: Women in Peacemaking and Peacebuilding in Northern Uganda
verfasst von: Dr. Sidonia Angom
Verlag: Springer International Publishing
Electronic ISBN: 978-3-319-75883-1
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-75882-4
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75883-1