COUNTING THE COST
Twenty Years of War in Northern Uganda
March 30, 2006: A report by Civil Society Organizations for Peace in Northern Uganda, CSOPNU, a coalition of over 50 Ugandan and international NGOs work with women, men and children affected by the northern conflict. The needs and rights of people affected by the conflict must be central to the debate about northern Uganda.

    » Read Counting the Cost (PDF)

UPROOTED AND FORGOTTEN
Impunity and Human Rights Abuses in Northern Uganda
September 2005: a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report.

    » Read Uprooted and Forgotten (PDF)

HEALTH AND MORTALITY SURVEY
Among internally displaced persons (IDP) in Gulu, Kitgum and Pader districts, northern Uganda
July 2005: A study to assess the health status of IDPs led by the Ugandan Ministry of Health and World Health Organization (WHO), in partnership with the offices of the District Director of Health Services of Gulu, Kitgum, and Pader, UNICEF, the UN World Food Program (WFP), the UN Population Fund, and the International Rescue Committee (IRC).

    » Read the WHO's Health and Mortality Survey (PDF)

LET MY PEOPLE GO
The Forgotten Plight of the People in the Displaced Camps in Acholi
July 2001: an assessment carried out by the Acholi Religious Leaders’ Peace Initiative and the Justice & Peace Commission of Gulu Archdiocese.

    » Read Let My People Go (PDF)

Where Are The Girls?
Girls in Fighting Forces in Northern Uganda, Sierra Leone and Mozambique: Their Lives During and After War
International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development
Montreal, Canada. 2004

Dyan Mazurana and Susan McKay's study, Where are the Girls?, raises our awareness of the militarization of the lives of girls in fighting forces and the role they play. The authors use data gleaned from their research in Northern Uganda, Mozambique and Sierra Leone to reveal that girls in fighting forces are not, and never have been, simply "camp followers."

This study is addressed to all those who work in countries that are in conflict or ravaged by war, whether they are community groups or multilateral, governmental, or non-governmental organizations. Where are the girls, if they are not counted as part of the military when the time comes for disarmament, demobilization and rebuilding of societies?

"There has been little analysis of the specific needs of girls recruited by fighting forces and demobilisation programmes have rarely been gender-sensitive. McKay and Mazurana's work provides a welcome and important contribution to our understanding of this enormously important issue and will, one hopes, lead to an improved response from humanitarian and child protection agencies."  - Iain Levine, Program Director, Human Rights Watch

    » Read Where Are the Girls? (PDF)

ROCO WAT I ACOLI
Restoring Relationships in Acholi-land: Traditional Approaches to Justice and Reintegration
September 2005: a comprehensive report on traditional approaches to justice in Acholi by The Liu Institute for Global Issues, Gulu District NGO Forum

When the Chief Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced its intention to investigate the LRA in 2004, many local leaders in northern Uganda were opposed to the initiative. Traditional, religious and civil society leaders have argued that the ICC places ‘their’ children at greater risk, and threatens to further damage their cultural identity and beliefs. Traditional justice, based on restorative principles, is widely supported as a preferable option to the punitive approach of the Court. A number of advocates, therefore, argue the Court should cease its current investigation until local approaches are given an opportunity to work, or until peace is realized in the region. Despite this, very little is known about traditional justice in Acholi beyond its normative dimensions.

This report, Roco Wat I Acoli, provides a much needed analysis of what traditional justice in northern Uganda is, how it is currently practiced and what value it could add. In a seven month study, it documented existing practices of traditional justice in 16 internally displaced persons (IDP) camps. It further examines how some of these rituals have been adapted to promote the reintegration of former rebels. It does so in order to provide an initial assessment of whether or not traditional rituals and ceremonies could be further adapted in the context of the enduring 19-year old conflict. Recommendations to local, national and international actors are made in the conclusion of the report.

  » Read Roco Wat I Acoli (PDF)

Peace First, Justice Later
Traditional Justice in northern Uganda
July 2005: Refugee Law Project Working Paper No, 17. The Refugee Law Project finds that the Acholi are against the prosecution of the LRA rebel commanders by the ICC.

  » Read Peace First, Justice Later (PDF)