INTERVENTIONS ON SEXUAL AND GENDER BASED VIOLENCE IN NORTHERN UGANDA

1. INTERVENTIONS ON SEXUAL AND GENDER BASED VIOLENCE IN NORTHERN UGANDA SYMPOSIUM ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN CONFLICT SITUATIONS.BRUSSELS 21ST 23RD JUNE 2006 JOINT PRESENTATION BY SEXUAL AND GENDER BASED VIOLENCE CLUSTER GROUP IN UGANDA. UNICEF, UNFPA, WHO, UNIFEM, UNHCR, IOM, UNDP, UNAIDS, GOU

3. Background • War between the Government of Uganda and the Lord’s Resistance Army has lasted over 19 years. • Widespread human rights violations and abuses, including abduction, killings and forced displacement. Majority of abductees are children, girls and women. • 1.6 million persons – 90% of the population in key districts – live in IDP camps in squalid conditions and abject poverty. Civilian administration is weak, policing absent and service delivery poor. • These are the pre-conditions for sexual exploitation, sexual violence and domestic violence.

5. SITUATION • Studies and assessments by GoU, UN agencies and NGOs point to widespread sexual exploitation, high levels of domestic violence and sexual violence: • “Sex for survival” – men with money and power (including soldiers, small businessmen, the salaried), girls and women economically desperate or seeking protection. Often abandoned when pregnant; • Girls most at risk – believed more likely to be HIV negative; • Domestic violence socially tolerated unless physical injury ensues or “without reason”. Marital rape not a legal offence;

6. SITUATION • Girls and women collect fuel, thatch and wild foods – risk of rape or extortion using threat of rape, by soldiers and civilian men. Women report girls formerly with LRA at particular risk; • LRA forces abducted girls into “forced marriage” with commanders. Approximately 1,500 formerly abducted “child mothers”. • Families provide some protection from exploitation – those without kin most at risk: • But desperate families may encourage exploitative relations.

7. SITUATION • Social and institutional barriers to reporting rape or domestic violence: • Exposure leading to social rejection (fear of HIV); • Shame, fear of retaliation -- a family matter; • Lack of useful services – so why report and risk exposure? • Civilian police absent from most camps: • Reporting costs up to $100, daily income less than $0.75.

8. SITUATION • Medical, VCT and psychosocial services only available in some locations: • Poor understanding of IASC Guidelines, rights of survivors or established procedures among key service providers. • Clinical policy guidelines on SGBV are now being developed for health workers.

9. National Policy Environment • National Gender Policy . • SGBV recognised in other key policy documents such as Poverty Eradication Action Plan, Health Policy. • Legal framework. • Constitution prohibits laws, cultures, customs or traditions which are against the dignity, welfare of women. • Defilement is a capital offence. • The penal code recognises the following offences. Common assault, rape, defilement (capital offence), indecent assault, threatening violence, murder and manslaughter, property grabbing. • Districts have by-laws e.g bylaws against female genital cutting/mutilation.

10. ACTION: coordination & mapping • All agencies guided by IASC Guidelines for GBV Interventions in Humanitarian Settings. • Uganda one of the countries selected for roll out of IASC guidelines (UNFPA) • Inter-Agency coordination mechanisms at national and district levels, within framework of UN-IASC Protection Cluster (UNICEF has lead for GBV): • District level working groups, led by local authorities, in two districts since 2004; • UN working group meeting at national level 2006; • Coordination established in several districts over next 4 months.

11. ACTION: coordination & mapping • Protection strategy defined, district and national level action plans in preparation. Challenges: • Improving link between national and local levels; • Improving understanding of the issues even among stakeholders and activists; • Supporting national level government leadership.

12. ACTION: mapping and assessments • District-level intervention mapping/gap identification underway (UNIFEM, UNICEF, UNFPA, WHO): • More NGOs with technical skills needed to support local authorities. • Pooling of assessments and identification of further research/information needs (UNIFEM, UNOCHA); • Monitoring and documentation: • Human rights investigation and reporting UNOHCHR (supported by UNICEF within framework of Security Council resolution 1612); • Case management systems (UNICEF, linked to child protection response); • Monitoring .

13. ACTION: Response to violence • Planned concentration on medical and psychosocial support services for time-being (but not ignoring access to justice). • Training and supporting service providers: • Medical service providers, HIV testing, including community-based services (WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, MSF, CCF, COOPI, ARC, MOH); • Psychosocial support (UNICEF, ARC, COOPI, CCF); • Police and army – response and prevention (UNOHCHR, UNICEF, Save the Children, ICRC); • Legal assistance (UNOHCHR, UNICEF, War Child, NRC).

14. ACTION: Response to violence • PEP provision (UNFPA). • Safe spaces (CCF). Challenges • Creating meaningful referral systems where medical/legal provision limited. • Ensuring equitable district of equipment and services. (eg only one DNA machine in KLA)

15. ACTION: Prevention violence & exploitation • Community mobilization against sexual violence, domestic violence and sexual exploitation, including of and by men and boys (UNIFEM, UNICEF, UNFPA, MGLSD, NGOs). • Mainstreaming into humanitarian service delivery “protective programming”: • Disseminating IASC Guidelines and SPHERE standards (UNICEF, UNIFEM); • Training of education, water, shelter colleagues (UNICEF, UNHCR); • Strengthening camp management/site planning (UNHCR).

16. ACTION: Prevention violence & exploitation • Livelihoods: • Advocacy for land access/freedom of safe movement (UN Country team as a whole); • Basic skills training/livelihoods programming for encamped families – making sure access for vulnerable girls and women (many UN agencies and NGOs).

17. ACTION: keeping our own house in order • Code of Conduct: • Training staff (all UN agencies); • Establishing accessible, confidential inter-agency procedures for complaints (UNICEF to lead creation, on behalf of protection cluster).

18. ACTION: resource mobilization • Move towards joint funding/joint programming approach (by time of 2007 CAP); • Technically competent staff a critical and key issue – need for more and stronger NGO partners; • Donors must recognize that staff (especially staff in the field) are a key component of GBV/protection programming – proportion of staff cost vs direct service delivery costs higher than in

19. CHALLENGES • Linking the sexual exploitation and sexual/domestic violence conflict agenda with a broader national strategy on these issues. • Ensuring collective ownership and broad understanding of responsibilities for prevention. • Too few NGOs on the ground. • Limited local authority SGBV service provision in camps; • Very weak economic base for the men, women and children living in the IDP camps which escalates level of SGBV.. • Poor integration of services and weak referral systems.

20. Summary of key next steps • At the stage of beginning an exciting and comprehensive inter-agency response: • Much of what described being undertaken individually but now working towards more comprehensive, coordinated approach at scale. • Stronger coordination and leadership – new staff coming into post within UN system, better linkage across sectors. • District by district action plans based on mapping.

21. Summary of key next steps • Harmonizing training modules – creating standard packages. • Standardizing/developing monitoring and evaluation framework and ensuring regular reporting on progress within UN-IASC Protection Cluster. • Enforceable codes of conduct to prevent sexual exploitation among service providers, in military and among humanitarian agencies.

22. Thank you