National Action Plans - Uganda

Details/Analysis:

Uganda has a long history of civil-war and continues to face ongoing internal conflict, armed insurgency and elections related violence. But its geographical position in the Great Lakes region also exposes Uganda to complex intra-state conflicts with boarding countries and non-state armed groups.

Conflict in Uganda and in the Great Lakes region more broadly, has been characterized by gross human rights violations, including human trafficking, torture, abduction and systematic sexual violence, including sexual slavery, the incidence of which has disproportionately impacted women and children. Women and children also represent the vast majority of internally displaced persons and refugees.

As is highlighted in the NAP text, this situation is “greatly exacerbated by the proliferation of small arms and light weapons” and “pervasive impunity for cases related to sexual violence and exploitation”, including for crimes perpetrated by national security forces.

Cultures of violence against women are not limited to conflict affected areas- as domestic violence, sexual assault, female genital mutilation, forced/ early marriages, dowry related violence and polygamy undermine Ugandan women’s fundamental human rights, safety and security.

Though women have been excluded from decision-making positions in the sphere of peace and security, Ugandan women have been, and continue to be, critical actors in peace building and reconciliation efforts. This has included organizing for peace during times of conflict and unrest and monitoring and supporting local implementation of peace agreements. Despite their great contributions to peace and security, the informal efforts of Ugandan have often remained unrecognized.

The complexity of Uganda’s security situation, lack of women in formal decision making arena’s and the imperative to eliminate of all forms of violence against women and provide effective legal, psycho-social and health support to survivors are cited as reasons for the decision to national implement UNSCR1325, 1820 and the Goma Declaration, rather than develop stand alone NAPs for each of the three instruments.

Details/Analysis:

The NAP includes five Strategic Objectives:

Strategic Objective 1: Improved legal and policy environment in relation to enacting laws and policy making on GBV

Strategic Objective 2: Improved performance of the different actors involved in combating GBV

Strategic Objective 3: Increase access to appropriate health services and psychosocial services to victims of SGBV and increased collaboration, linkages and joint initiatives among the various actors responding to SGBV health related issues

Strategic Objective 4: Increase Women’s Visibility, Representation and Participation in Leadership and Decision-Making in national, regional and international institutions and mechanisms for the prevention, management and resolution of conflict.

Strategic Objective 5: Build community and institutional capacity to ensure the prevention of GBV in society.

Each Strategic Objective is broken down into Strategic Actions, Performance Indicators and Impact, which are linked to responsible actors. For example five Strategic Objective 1 “legal and policy environment in relation to enacting laws and policy making on GBV” includes the following elements within Strategic Action 1:

Strategic Action 1: Enact and where necessary amended laws to conform to the UNSCR1325 & 1820 and the Goma Declaration and protect women from gender-based violence and domesticate the Protocol on the Prevention and Suppression of Sexual Violence Against Women and Children by reforming the Penal Codes to provide stiff punishment for crimes related to GBV

Performance Indicators
• Discriminatory laws and provisions incompatible with the effective implementation of the three instruments reviewed.
• Gender responsive laws/by laws enacted and the National Gender Policy implemented at all levels.
• Ratified Pact on Security, Stability and Development in the Great Lakes Region.
• Sexual Offences Act enacted
• The Domestic Violence Act enacted
• Marriage and Family Bill enacted.
• Administration of Moslem Personal Bill enacted
• Trafficking in persons Bill debated and enacted to stop child trafficking and child prostitution in the GLR by specifically addressing cross border regional networks that facilitate child trafficking.
• Amnesty Act amended
• Sections on GBV offences in the Penal Code amended
• Popularization of the refugee Act
• Popularization of the different Acts that are amended and enacted
• Popularization of research and documentation on GBV.

Impact
• Revision of discriminatory laws against women related to sexual offences.
• Improved legal/social status of women and girls
• Enhanced protection and respect for human rights of women and girls.
• Increased power of women and girls to demand, secure and exercise their human rights.
• Trafficking in persons, particularly women and child trafficking combated.
• Sexual violence crimes excluded from amnesty provisions
• Strengthened judicial systems.

Each of the relevant indicators is attached to a responsible actor and a separate Monitoring and Evaluation Framework. There are no time-frames for completion or budget included, however Strategic Action 5 requires ‘financial, technical and logistical support for the implementation of NAP’ to be developed and lead by the Ministry of Gender Labor and Social Development.

For the all details on this Strategic objective and all other indicators please refer to the NAP

Details/Analysis:

The Ugandan NAP does not include a dedicated budget, or estimated implementation and monitoring costings.

The NAP accounts for budget concerns in Strategic Objective 6 ‘Increased financing to all sectors for implementation’, which lists two areas of strategic action:

• Identifying, mobilizing and allocating the required resources to undertake strategic actions through the budgetary process.

• Provide financial, technical and logistical support for the implementation of the action plan and other gender sensitive efforts to combat GBV.

No indicators or actions are included that formulate strategies for sourcing increased funding; detail what level of funding is required for which specific activities; or what accountability mechanisms will ensure funding is raised and used in implementing the NAP. General gender sensitivity in budgeting processes overall are cited, and the need to direct more resources and technical assistance to combating gender based violence.

The Monitoring and evaluation framework cites reviews of government planning and budgeting processes, progress reports, community and stakeholder consultation as well as National Budget and National Bureau of Statistics as data collection mechanisms able to monitor implementation spending and resource allocation.

Details/Analysis:

A full Monitoring and Evaluation Framework is included in the NAP which detail the sources for data collection, actors responsible for reporting and the frequency of reporting. There are no time-frames included for the completion of specified activities or estimated resources required for implementation.

The NAP details a broad spectrum of actors responsible for implementing the NAP which includes Government Ministries, bodies and departments, local administration, indigenous and international Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Community Based Organizations, the media, Faith Based Organizations, UN agencies and other bilateral organizations, Donor Agencies, Development Partners and the Private Sector.

The NAP does not specify the creation of a body responsible for overseeing implementation, formal review/comprehensive reporting processes, or detail how each stakeholder will be effectively coordinated, supported and held accountable in implementing the NAP.

The NAP outlines anticipated risks and challenges to successful implementation which includes appropriate funding, political will, implementation capacity, coordination and institutional monitoring and evaluation, but does not go on to elaborate strategies to mitigate against such risks.

Details/Analysis:

The introductory chapters of the NAP identify the domestic and regional proliferation and easy accessibility of arms, particularly Small and Light Weapons as contributing to Uganda’s experience of conflict, insecurity and violence against women.

The NAP also references Uganda’s arms control and disarmament commitments, namely; the Bamako Declaration on an African Common Position on Illicit Proliferation, Circulation and Trafficking on Small Arms and Light Weapons (2000); the Nairobi Protocol for the Prevention, Control and Reduction of Small Arms and Light Weapons (2004).

The inclusion of disarmament language and actions are limited within the NAP's indicators, which includes one reference within Strategic Objective 5 to put “mechanisms in place to combat the problem of arms trafficking and illegal acquisition of arms”

Details/Analysis:

The Ugandan NAP was developed by the Ministry of Gender Labor and Social Development, and there was some Civil Society involvement in the development of the indicators. Unlike other NAPs, there is no provision for an ongoing formalized role for Civil Society in the implementation or monitoring of the NAP.

The NAP establishes strategic actions to increase the role of Civil Society organizations in the formulation and implementation of policy and strengthen technical expertise and capacity. Civil Society are also provided responsibility throughout for various activities such as data collection, reporting, education and service delivery.

There is also one women’s Civil Society Organization represented in the UN Joint Programming on Gender.

Although there is no explicitly stated ongoing role for Civil Society, the NAP does sit within broader national gender machinery and forms part of the Ministry of Gender Labor and Social Development’s strategic objectives.

The Government established the SGBV Reference Group under the leadership of the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, which includes Civil Society representatives.

National Women’s Task Force on a Gender Responsive Peace, Recovery and Development Plan does not include civil society representatives, but works with the UNSCR 1325 Civil Society Taskforce. Civil Society established the UNSCR 1325 Civil Society Taskforce in 2009 to monitor the implementation of the NAP. The establishment of the Taskforce was led by Center for Women in Governance and coordinated by the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders.

Civil Society has produced comprehensive annual monitoring reports, the most recent of which concluded the following recommendations:

Recommendations for Women's Participation in Governance:

• Civil society must hold women on affirmative action accountable to women. As the women’s movement concretizes the women’s agenda for the period 2011-2016, they must share it widely with women who will have been elected in parliament and in district councils in the 2011 elections.
• Avail the women’s agenda to all newly elected women MPs and district councilors soon after the general elections in 2011.
• Government should review the affirmative action policy with a view to increasing women’s representation to 50 percent at all levels of governance since women comprise over 51 percent of Uganda’s population.
• Government must review the Public Service policies as far as women’s representation is concerned so they too achieve a minimum number of at least 30% like other agencies of government.
• Women on affirmative action seats in parliament and in district councils must be mindful of the fact their constituency is the women of Uganda, and must therefore work more with women in civil society to keep the women’s agenda on the table.
• Development partners should support women’s organisations to document success stories and experiences of women in politics. Donors should also avail adequate funding for women’s organisations that help to build the capacity of women’s community based organisations.
• Government needs to recognise the important role women play in peace negotiations, in peace building and in conflict transformation. Therefore government must, as a policy always include at least a third women representation on peace negotiation teams.
• The percentage of women in uniform in top positions is very small. Government needs to implement a policy that motivates and promotes women in uniform for they bring unique qualities to the forces. Development partners should support such efforts.
• Government should appoint more women as heads of constitutional and statutory bodies and also on boards of such bodies. The number of women in such positions is still small compared to the men.
• Women’s organisations that have not been part of task forces and coalitions for issues on women peace and security need to get on board. It is in numbers that voice will increase.
• Train women on assertiveness and, campaign skills, public speaking, negotiation, lobbying, advocacy, fundraising and gender mainstreaming to increase and strengthen women’s political participation.
• Increase funding for women’s CSOs engaged in women’s capacity building for political life and monitoring of recovery programmes.
• Mobilise women and men to vote for women and work with women MPs to promote women focused politics. 

Recommendations for Prevention and Protection:

• Develop a plan of action for coordinated monitoring of the implementation of the NAP, as well as advocacy and M&E capacity development for CBOs that work on women, peace and security
• Support a study on the utilization of gender sensitive laws and policies in Uganda
• Sensitize local district authorities on UNSCR 1325 and 1820 and the NAP and support processes for them to develop District Action Plans, and also sensitize law enforcement agents because VAW takes place at the local level.
• Strengthen advocacy capacity of women’s CBOs that focus on women, peace and security Issues National level women
• Strengthen the institutional capacity of the Family and Child Protection Unit in the Uganda Police Department to carry out their duties efficiently.
• Design and implement medical interventions including psychosocial support for women in post conflict areas in time for the next budget cycle.
• Increase engagement with women in uniform
• Support financing for implementation of the NAP for 1325 and 1820
• Finance implementation of the NAP  
• Implement all areas of the NAP

Recommendations for Promoting a Gendered Perspective:

• Integrating gender and peace issues into the education curricula at all levels and auditing such curricula for gender before they are published
• Subject each new development programme including Sector Strategic Plans and Annual Work plans and budgets to gender audits
• Integrate gender issues in all future peace agreements
• Monitor and ensure that all post and pre deployment training for troops going for peace keeping missions incorporate 1325, 1820 and other international human rights instruments.
• Re conceptualise the role of women in post conflict reconstruction and acknowledge, analyse and reflect in programme design the critical role played by women in economic recovery programmes.
• Train local authorities and officials at district and sub county levels in gender sensitive planning and budgeting
• Develop planning and monitoring tools for both conflict and gender impacts of development interventions