Women meet to discuss Great Lakes peace and justice

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT  | Women from the Great Lakes region have held an inception meeting on ‘Women leading on peace and Justice ‘organised by ActionAid Australia and ActionAid International Uganda.

The meeting held 9th to 12th July at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Kampala, was held to discuss and formulate a platform which will enable women’s organizations to actively contribute to the implementation of the Regional Action Plan (RAP) on United Nations Security Council Resolution(UNSCR) 1325 (2000) on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS).

This will be done by supporting them to strengthen their collective action, providing grants for relevant projects, and enabling women to play an active and sustained role in the overall peace process.

Over the last two decades, the Region has been plagued with complex and devastating open conflicts, primarily driven by a series of political crisis, which present grave threats to peace and security in the Region. It is also widely documented that women and girls have been /-6disproportionately affected by the impact of these conflicts due to their low social, economic and political status.

Despite their efforts to mobilise to resist violence and war at various levels, women and girls have been systematically excluded from the conflict prevention and transformation processes set by national and international institutions.

While speaking at the inception meeting, Authur Larok, the General Secretary of ActionAid said that the platform must be led by people who have been directly impacted by the issue.

“ActionAid can’t go through what you went through. We can be allies and supporters but it should be something that you take charge of,”

Women say although they have National and Regional Action plans, they have issues disseminating important information to their fellow women.

Evelyn Amony of the Women Advocacy Network in Gulu said that a lot of organisations use their names to get funding but their priorities are different.

“There is a difference between what victims prioritize and what organisations prioritize. This is why we need a platform to address our priorities,”

They also noted that the platform will help educate illiterate women by communicating to them in ways they can understand and get proper funding.

“There are women in DRC who don’t know how to use the computer. It is very hard for these women to access funds. We would like to be autonomous”, said Emmanuella Kavugho Vasika a woman activist from DRC.

According to Action Aid Uganda country director Xavier Ejoyi, War victims need timely support and structures to overcome the many difficulties they encounter

He said this is also relevant to the women in DR Congo (DRC) some of whom are raped, kidnapped and expelled from their homes as a result of the violence between various armed factions.

The inspiration for starting the platform comes from the voices of women who had and continue to call for peace and justice and this remains at the centre of their work.

“We have a lot to do in the justice system. We are advocating for the transitional justice bill to be passed so that it includes women at the forefront of the justice system. We pledge to work with Action Aid to achieve this,” Sarah Nkayimbi from the Foundation of Justices said.

The women also said that the platform will foster teamwork.

“Teamwork is important. Even to survive the war, it was teamwork. If we are to rebuild our lives, we have to hold each other’s hand. Share experiences with other countries, learn how they cope,” Amony added.