Uganda
Commentary The invisible genius of KONY 2012
Annabel Smith, a teacher and community educator, discusses the Kony 2012 campaign. Arguing that, despite the many flaws of both the campaign and organisation, it has given us a reason to be proud of our young people.. Read more >>>
From the field Beyond Kony 2012: Local peacebuilders advice to Invisible Children
Steohen Oola, Insight on Conflict’s local correspondent for Uganda, writes on the local reaction to Invisible Children’s Kony 2012 campaign. Particularly the reatcion of respected local peacebuilders, such as the Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative (ARLPI), a local interfaith peacebuilding organisation in northern Uganda, which has urged Invisible Children to work with people in the region to find a lasting solution to the LRA situation. Read more >>>
From the field A Ugandan reflection on the Kony 2012 campaign
Stephen Oola, Ugandan peacebuilder and Local Correspondent for Insight on Conflict, provides a Ugandan perspective on Invisible Children’s controversial Kony 2012 campaign. Although positive about Invisible Children’s work on the ground in Uganda, Stephen questions the lack of involvement of Ugandans in the campaign. Read more >>>
Interview Bishop Ochola from the ARLPI in Uganda
Insight on Conflict interviews Bishop Ochola from the Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative (ARLPI) in Uganda. The ARLPI is a leading peacebuilding organisation in Uganda and was central to bringing together the government and Lord’s Resistance Army around the negotiating table for the 2008 peace talks. Bishop Ochola discusses both the work of the ARLPI and his own personal motivation for seeing peace in Uganda after losing both his eldest daughter and wife to the conflict. Read more >>>
From the field Practical advice on peacebuilding research in Uganda
We travelled to Uganda from the beginning of May to early August 2011. We had spent months conducting research at the University of Toronto into issues surrounding youth affected by the recent war in Northern Uganda between the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Government of Uganda. In Uganda we hoped to collect quantitative and qualitative data in the field to test the assumptions of existing research and provide answers as well. Read more >>>
From the field Uganda: Trail of LRA Commander Kwoyelo halted
The Constitutional Court in Uganda has halted the trial of former LRA commander Col. Thomas Kwoyelo. Kwoyelo was facing trial on multiple charges amounting to crimes against humanity. Kwoyelo had applied for amnesty, for which he was entitled under the law, but the Director of Public Prosecution and the Amnesty Commission had not issued him with a Certificate. Kwoyelo appealed the decision, and in a unanimous judgement a Constitutional Court has granted him amnesty. Read more >>>
From the field Uganda: swapping guns for running shoes
The Marakwet and the Pokot communities of Kenya, and their cousins the Karamoja of Uganda, are pastoralist communities who inhabit the dry rangelands of the Northern Rift Valley where pastoralism is the major source of livelihood. The presence of government in this region is limited and the availability of state functions such as security and social services is barely existent. Over the years cases of cattle rustling and intercommunity conflicts have led to the loss of thousands of lives and the destruction of property of unknown value. Read more >>>
From the field Kwoyelo’s trial and Uganda’s search for justice
Civil society organisations working for peace, justice and reconciliation in Uganda have welcomed the trial of former Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) Colonel, Thomas Kwoyelo for atrocities he allegedly committed during the over two decade LRA insurgency in northern Uganda. Read more >>>
From the field Rebuilding the lives of war-affected women
When she was 13 years old, Ashoka Fellow Milly Auma was captured by the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda, and was forced to serve as a the wife of a rebel commander. Eight years later, when she was finally able to escape back to her village with her two children, Milly was met by former friends and neighbors with hostility and fear. The realities she had brought home with her, in the form of both her children and her scars, epitomized everything the residents of her village had been trying to escape. Read more >>>
From the field Uganda: Understanding the walk to work protest
Uganda is in the spotlight again, following brutal police and military suppression of an ongoing public protest – the “Walk to Work” campaign. The rising cost of fuel, high transport cost and the unaffordable food commodities add to a growing frustration over poor social service delivery and the lack of fiscal discipline by the government. Peacebuilders and religious leaders have all condemned the brutal nature of the state response on unarmed civilians, called for dialogue and urged the government to respect citizen’s rights. Read more >>>
