Women and Land Conflicts: A Focus on Post-Conflict Northern Uganda

Download or read book Women and Land Conflicts: A Focus on Post-Conflict Northern Uganda written by Christine Apio and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The two decades armed conflict that began in the 1980s between the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) and the Ugandan government ravaged northern Uganda. The conflict displaced over 1.8 million people in northern Uganda, and shattered womens livelihoods and access to land- a major productive resources. The war did not only disrupt the traditional set up of land, but reconstructed the notion of land and social relations around land access and ownership. The phenomenon of land conflicts that unfolded in the region following the end of the conflict in 2006 led to deep social exclusion and divisions, disproportionately affecting women. It curtailed womens land rights and access, undermined their ability to engage in productive activities, thus threatening their self-reliance and empowerment. The paper examines the reason behind land conflicts in Acholi sub-region, how women are affected, and the forms of agency women have within the structures that perpetuate and sustain land conflict. My findings show that various multifaceted factors are behind land conflict phenomena in Acholi. These includes LRA displacement, large-scale land acquisitions for commercial purpose, weak land governance and institutions among others. The findings further show how complex and powerful structures and actors are perpetuating and sustaining land conflicts in Acholi. State institutions at central and local level such as the Ministries of Land and Tourism, District Land Boards, Acholi cultural institution, private commercial investors, political elites are directly involved in land grabbing. The resultant escalation of land conflicts in the region has disproportionately impacted women compared to men. The paper shows how Acholi women are not passive actors when confronted with land conflict. They possess a strong sense of agency, are willing and able to demand their land claims and resist land dispossessions regardless of the means. For example, Acholi women have actively resisted large-scale land acquisitions through nude protests to protect their usufructs rights to customary land. I conclude by highlighting the implications of the study on post-conflict reconstruction efforts and suggesting some recommendations. The paper recommends policy initiatives aimed at raising womens consciousness on land issues to be able openly speak out, voice their land claims and resist land dispossessions. Empowering and supporting womens agency is critical to achieving this. Women activism must begin to shift from usufruct rights as disempowering to women and begin to focus on the potential to exert resistance by women as land users. Most importantly, for empowerment to be meaningful, institutions responsible for implementing and monitoring land policies must be strengthened, accountable, transparent and non-partisan.