In 2016, we launched a collaboration with the Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP) and the Women’s Advocacy Network (WAN) on the Reintegration Programme for young women formerly abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).

The Reintegration Programme is a grassroots reconciliation initiative designed to reunite and reconcile female returnees with their families and clans and to support the acceptance of their children born as a result of their enslavement by the LRA. The programme works to re-establish trust and supports the successful reintegration of female returnees, as they pursue rebuilding their lives and create new aspirations for themselves and their children.

During 2016, the programme assisted: 13 formerly abducted women to be accepted by their families and clans which contributed to a greater sense of reconciliation and reintegration into their communities; 19 children to be reunited with the paternal families and clans leading to a greater sense of belonging and identity, as well as access to land and support for education for some of the children; and 13 family reunions for those abducted and their children born as a  result of the war. In addition, the reintegration programme held nine radio talk shows in several conflict-affected sub-regions in northern Uganda to raise awareness about the experience and challenges for women abducted by the LRA and the children they returned with from the bush. This is one of the strategies employed by the programme to reduce the stigma and discrimination experienced by female former abductees and to encourage communal reconciliation. The programme also held two community dialogues with cultural elders who play an important leadership role in their clans and whose acknowledgment and support of former abductees and the children born as a result of the conflict is critical to acceptance by their clans. More than 400 clan leaders, family members, women formerly abducted by the LRA and their children were involved in the Reintegration Programme during 2016.

See an evaluation of the Reintegration Programme for 2016.

Learn more about JRP here.

Learn more about WAN here, see their website and follow them on Facebook here.