The Institute for Inclusive Security

The Institute for Inclusive Security
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Uganda Workshop, May 2008

From May 12 to May 15, 2008, Inclusive Security traveled to Kampala for several days of advocacy meetings and to conduct a workshop for women peace builders. We also reconnected with Ugandan members of the Women Waging Peace Network (including participants from Colloquium 2007), attendees of the Forum des Femmes Rwandaises Parlementaires conference in Kigali in 2007, and participants from our December 2007 Nairobi consultation. Finally, we convened a group of female parliamentarians to discuss their priorities for the implementation of the peace agreement and to present our Rwanda research findings.

On May 12, in partnership with the United Nations Development Fund for Women, we facilitated a one-day workshop for two civil society groups who participated in the Juba peace talks on Northern Uganda, as well as 20 representatives from women's organizations based in the region. The goal of the workshop was to connect the women who participated as observers at the Juba talks and civil society leaders from across the north of Uganda. In addition, we sought to facilitate coalition building among the diverse groups. Representatives of two organizations, the Women's Coalition for Peace and the Greater North Women’s Voice for Peace Coalition, reported on their experiences at the negotiations in Juba. As a result of the coalition-building exercises we led during the workshop, we are pleased that the Women's Coalition for Peace and the Greater North Women's Voice for Peace Coalition plan to collaborate to influence the implementation of the final peace agreement.

After the workshop, during several days of advocacy meetings, we focused on the importance of involving women in the Peace, Recovery and Development Plan for Northern Uganda, the government's reconstruction plan for the North. In addition, Inclusive Security staff focused policymakers' attention upon the importance of women ex-combatants' participation in disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration programs and on the contributions women’s organizations make to reintegration processes.

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