01/19/2007

In November 2006, Refugees International was traveling through the outskirts of Gulu in northern Uganda. Our vehicle came to a standstill as the road was blocked by a large rally and our driver told us, “It is the women with the peace march!” As we got closer, we could hear the music blaring and the beating of the drums. Everyone was turned out on both sides of the road and we maneuvered to get a good view.

Soon the women came into view – some wearing UNIFEM t-shirts, many with small babies tied to their backs, some in colorful green dresses. In the front were the older ladies dressed in their finery. The women strutted and danced and chanted. Several were carrying banners that said, “No peace without women.” They were marching to Juba in south Sudan to protest the fact that there are very few women involved in the peace talks between the Government of Uganda and the rebel group the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). When they saw us taking photos, they began to cheer and clap. “We want peace now. Now is the time for peace. No peace without women.”

The 20-year conflict between the Government of Uganda and the LRA has displaced more than a million people in northern Uganda. The conflict has been marked by the abduction of children by the LRA and extremely brutal attacks on women and children. The Ugandan women who were marching through the north demanded that since they have borne the brunt of this conflict, their voices must be heard as peace is negotiated.

Once considered vulnerable civilians to be protected, women and girls are increasingly victimized by conflicts around the world. In Uganda, the LRA abducts girls, often targeting schools to find them. These girls are then used by the rebels as domestic servants and once in their early teens, many are forced into sexual slavery by the commanders. They are extremely vulnerable to rape, unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. The women and girls who have been able to flee, or who have been released by the LRA, often find themselves stigmatized by their families and the community. With little education or skills and small children to raise, it is very difficult for them to support themselves, so many end back up with the same men that abducted them.

Meanwhile other women and girls who are living in camps for internally displaced persons throughout northern Uganda are also vulnerable to rape and other abuse at the hands of the Ugandan military forces, who are stationed around the camps to protect its residents. Many women, out of fear of stigmatization and retribution, do not come forward to accuse their rapists and most rape survivors in camps have little access to medical services. Domestic violence is also a big problem for women living in camps. Idleness, a sense of powerlessness, and high rates of alcohol consumption have all contributed to increased rates of such violence.

Yet, even as a Cessation of Hostilities agreement was signed between the Government of Uganda and the LRA in August 2006, and the international community praised the improvements in general security and protection for internally displaced people, the women of northern Uganda have continued to experience violence.

One criticism of the Juba peace talks has been that there is virtually no representation of women at the negotiating table. The Government of Uganda delegation has no women members and the LRA negotiating team includes few women. As Judith, a Gulu University student participating in the peace march told Refugees International, “Women have suffered in particular for years due to this conflict. We are very concerned about the lack of our involvement and input at the peace talks. Women are like water, when the situation heats up between the two sides we have the ability to diffuse tensions. We can undoubtedly increase the chances of the talks succeeding.”

Numerous Ugandan women’s organizations have pointed out that as an important aspect of the post-conflict plan of action there needs to be a gender expert at the talks to support both parties in analyzing the gender aspects at every level of the negotiations, and to ensure that concerns specific to women are integrated in the final agreement. In particular, as the LRA team negotiates compensation for the displaced, it’s important that the rights of women to land are raised and protected.

In recent days there has been growing skepticism about whether the talks will continue, given that the LRA is refusing to participate further unless the venue is changed from Sudan to another country. Regardless of whether the Juba peace talks continue, it is imperative that any peace negotiation to resolve the decades-old conflict in northern Uganda involve women in prominent roles and guarantee that concerns specific to them are adequately addressed in the process. Only a peace agreement built on such a foundation would do justice to the hundreds of thousands of women who have been affected by the conflict.