By Admin
A Database of formerly abducted women and children born in captivity has been compiled to ease the creation of assistance programs for victims.
The database was a result of a programme on enhancing gender, justice, redress and accountability for wartime violations in Uganda.
The programme was executed by UN women in partnership with FIDA Uganda and the Greater North Parliamentary Forum.
This followed a motion tabled in February 2019 by the Gulu Municipality MP Leandro Komakech appealing for support to the formerly abducted women and girls and children born in captivity among the LRA.
Komakech urged the government to support former female abductees and children born in captivity during the Lord’s Resistance Army insurgency saying that many of the former abductees require specialized intervention because they suffered tremendous psychological and physical torture.
The database which is a compilation of victims from Acholi Sub-Region was handed over to the speaker of Parliament by the civil society, victims and UN Women at a function held at Parliament on Friday.
Yusurah Naguja a program specialist at UN Women and the focal person on the program for women, peace, security, and humanitarian action observes that during the LRA insurgency women and girls were specifically targeted leading to abductions, murders, and rape which left a devastating impact on the population.
She asserts that lack of transitional justice including reconciliation and repatriation has remained a serious challenge with little accountability for the atrocities committed.
The representatives of the formerly abducted women and children born in captivity have now launched a fresh appeal for assistance from the government now that the database has been compiled to effectively verify victims and specific challenges faced.
The chief of Patiko chiefdom Collins Muttu Atiko has noted that for over 10 years there has been a lot of talks but no action towards helping the suffering victims, he states that there is need for a paradigm shift in how the victims are given redress.
Stella Lanam one of the victims said that many of the victims are committing suicide because of the difficult conditions they are going through.
She notes that most victims are landless with nowhere to go and nowhere to find food with the situation exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The minister of state in charge of Northern Uganda Grace Freedom Kwiyucwiny has blamed the local governments for not considering the victims in their planning and budgeting processes.
She recommended that the database be presented to the district leaders like the LCV chairperson and Chief Administrative officers in the Acholi region because they are the actors involved in planning.
“This database should be presented in Acholi region, to those district leaders and actors because that’s where the problem is, the problem is not up here, ”so that the LC5 and the CAO can hear the minister noted.
