Uganda

Citation:

Apecu, Laloyo Stella. 2018. "Gender, Land Rights and Fragility in Northern Uganda: the Case of Amuru District." Globe: A Journal of Language, Culture and Communication 6: 184-95.

Author: Laloyo Stella Apecu

Abstract:

Armed conflicts globally create social and economic shifts that affect women’s and men’s claims to land. Jacobs (2012) explains that land is crucial to the livelihoods and security of many rural women. Asiimwe (2001) and Tripp (1997) note that land rights in most parts of Africa are passed on from the male lineage and women who have lost their lineage ties through widowhood, divorce, not having sons, and separation become vulnerable and may be excluded. . This paper discusses struggles over access, control and ownership rights in relation to land among women and men in Amuru district Uganda. This article is a result of a qualitative study that conducted 10 focus group discussions with 40 women and 40 women in Pabbo, Amuru and Lamogi sub counties of Amuru Sub County and 4 focus group discussions with Area Land Committee members in the above sub counties. My findings indicate that ethnic based land tensions fostered insecurity and instability in the Amuru as people could not walk around freely, access their gardens, were displaced and this in turn affected their ability to make a living through accessing the land. I also found that many women had relational access to land through their marriage and relationship with male kin and this seemed to give them fragile land rights. Men on the other hand had firm control over land and made final decisions relating to sales and land use. 

Keywords: Gender, land rights, livelihoods, fragility, Uganda

Topics: Armed Conflict, Ethnic/Communal Wars, Ethnicity, Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Households, Livelihoods, Rights, Land Rights, Security Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Uganda

Year: 2018

Citation:

Annan, Jeannie, Christopher Blattman, Dyan Mazurana, and Khristopher Carlson. 2011. "Civil War, Reintegration, and Gender in Northern Uganda." Journal of Conflict Resolution 55 (6): 877–908.

Authors: Jeannie Annan, Christopher Blattman, Dyan Mazurana, Khristopher Carlson

Abstract:

What are the impacts of war on the participants, and do they vary by gender? Are ex-combatants damaged pariahs who threaten social stability, as some fear? Existing theory and evidence are both inconclusive and focused on males. New data and a tragic natural quasi-experiment in Uganda allow us to estimate the impacts of war on both genders, and assess how war experiences affect reintegration success. As expected, violence drives social and psychological problems, especially among females. Unexpectedly, however, most women returning from armed groups reintegrate socially and are resilient. Partly for this reason, postconflict hostility is low. Theories that war conditions youth into violence find little support. Finally, the findings confirm a human capital view of recruitment: economic gaps are driven by time away from civilian education and labor markets. Unlike males, however, females have few civilian opportunities and so they see little adverse economic impact of recruitment.

Keywords: civil war, Gender, reintegration, Uganda, Lord's resistance army

Topics: Armed Conflict, Combatants, Conflict, Economies, Education, Gender, Livelihoods, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Post-Conflict, Violence Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Uganda

Year: 2011

Citation:

Percival, Valerie, Esther Dusabe-Richards, Haja Wurie, Justine Namakula, Sarah Ssali, and Sally Theobald. 2018. "Are Health Systems Interventions Gender Blind? Examining Health System Reconstruction in Conflict Affected States." Globalization and Health 14: 1-23.

Authors: Valerie Percival, Esther Dusabe-Richards, Haja Wurie, Justine Namakula, Sarah Ssali, Sally Theobald

Abstract:

Background: Global health policy prioritizes improving the health of women and girls, as evident in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), multiple women’s health initiatives, and the billions of dollars spent by international donors and national governments to improve health service delivery in low-income countries. Countries recovering from fragility and conflict often engage in wide-ranging institutional reforms, including within the health system, to address inequities. Research and policy do not sufficiently explore how health system interventions contribute to the broader goal of gender equity.

Methods: This paper utilizes a framework synthesis approach to examine if and how rebuilding health systems affected gender equity in the post-conflict contexts of Mozambique, Timor Leste, Sierra Leone, and Northern Uganda. To undertake this analysis, we utilized the WHO health systems building blocks to establish benchmarks of gender equity. We then identified and evaluated a broad range of available evidence on these building blocks within these four contexts. We reviewed the evidence to assess if and how health interventions during the post-conflict reconstruction period met these gender equity benchmarks.

Findings: Our analysis shows that the four countries did not meet gender equitable benchmarks in their health systems. Across all four contexts, health interventions did not adequately reflect on how gender norms are replicated by the health system, and conversely, how the health system can transform these gender norms and promote gender equity. Gender inequity undermined the ability of health systems to effectively improve health outcomes for women and girls. From our findings, we suggest the key attributes of gender equitable health systems to guide further research and policy.

Conclusion: The use of gender equitable benchmarks provides important insights into how health system interventions in the post-conflict period neglected the role of the health system in addressing or perpetuating gender inequities. Given the frequent contact made by individuals with health services, and the important role of the health system within societies, this gender blind nature of health system engagement missed an important opportunity to contribute to more equitable and peaceful societies. 

Keywords: gender and health, health systems, post-conflict, gender and development

Topics: Development, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equity, Health, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction Regions: Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, West Africa, Oceania Countries: Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Timor-Leste, Uganda

Year: 2018

Citation:

Kapur, Amrita. 2011. "'Catch-22': The Role of Development Institutions in Promoting Gender Equality in Land Law– Lessons Learned in Post-Conflict Pluralist Africa." Buffalo Human Rights Law Review 17: 75-116.

Author: Amrita Kapur

Abstract:

This article explores the contours of development policies as they have been applied to pluralistic legal systems, with a specific focus on their effects on women in post-conflict African countries. Drawing on research that firmly establishes the importance of women's social, economic and political participation in post-conflict development, it identifies the flaws in gender-neutral land titling initiatives introduced and encouraged by development institutions. It then describes the gender-sensitive laws enacted as a response to continuing gender discriminatory practices in Rwanda, Mozambique and Uganda. While taking into account the existence of customary law, these laws explicitly affirm women's rights with respect to land, property and inheritance.

However, the central government's reliance on local informal governance structures to apply and enforce these laws creates a "Catch-22" situation, whereby the local elites with the power to enforce the law are precisely the people who continue to apply gender-discriminatory customary norms, particularly with respect to land rights. The experiences of the three progressive societies mentioned above are analyzed to provide insight into how statutory and customary systems can develop from divergent conflicting legal orders into a more synthesized union of laws which protects women's land rights and is universally enforced.

Topics: Development, Conflict, Gender, Women, Governance, Post-Conflict, Political Participation, Rights, Land Rights, Women's Rights Regions: Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa Countries: Mozambique, Rwanda, Uganda

Year: 2011

Citation:

Rugadya, Margaret A. 2008. "Unveiling Gender, Land and Property Rights in Postconflict Northern Uganda." Associates Research Occasional Paper 4, Associates Research Uganda, Kampala.

Author: Margaret A. Rugadya

Annotation:

Summary:
"This paper is a product of extensive literature review and the findings of various research undertakings in which I have worked as a Researcher for a number of clients, but more specifically TROCAIRE Uganda -2008, Alert International – Uganda 2008 and World Bank – in a series of studies from 2006-2008. The paper reviews, key gender issues that need to be addressed in relation to IDP return and the resumption of livelihoods, but specifically singles gender issues as they present themselves in the recovery of northern Uganda. In the first part, the key issues on gender and tenure security in northern Uganda are defined, the second part articulates how land administration and management is affected and shows the inadequacies in policy and law, in addressing gender and land in post conflict. The conclusion is drawn that the root causes of vulnerability that ultimately lead to livelihood insecurity revolve around; tenure and property rights; rights administration and management; policy and legal framework, therefore re-establishing an enduring property rights regime in land, requires addressing three inter-related issues. a) securing the essential ingredients of security and certainty of property rights; b) identifying potential conflicts and addressing them at their latent stage; and c) establishing a robust and dynamic institutional arrangement that handles land and biodiversity related transactions in a transparent and accountable manner" (Rugadya 2008).

Topics: Displacement & Migration, IDPs, Conflict, Gender, Land Tenure, Livelihoods, Post-Conflict, Rights, Land Rights Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Uganda

Year: 2008

Citation:

Buss, Doris, Blair Rutherford, Jennifer Stewart, Gisèle Eva Côté, Abby Sebina-Zziwa, Richard Kibombo, Jennifer Hinton, and Joanne Lebert. 2019. “Gender and Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining: Implications for Formalization.” The Extractive Industries and Society 6 (4): 1101-12.

Authors: Doris Buss, Blair Rutherford, Jennifer Stewart, Gisèle Eva Côté, Abby Sebina-Zziwa, Richard Kibombo, Jennifer Hinton, Joanne Lebert

Abstract:

This paper explores the gendered contexts of artisanal and small-scale mining in sub-Saharan Africa, and traces how women are likely to be excluded from current policy pushes to formally regulate the sector. Drawing on qualitative and quantitative research results from six artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sites, two in each of Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda, the paper traces how the gendered organization of mining roles, when viewed in relation to women’s disproportionate household and care work, and the gendered norms around what women should do, devalues and delimits women’s mining work. The result, we argue, is that most women will be unlikely to access mining licenses or join and effectively participate in decision-making in miners’ associations/cooperatives. Seemingly neutral interventions like licenses or grouping miners into cooperatives may thus incorporate while normalizing existing gendered exclusions. The paper argues for a recalibration of ASM formalization to ensure that gender is placed at the centre of design and implementation.

Keywords: Gender, ASM, formalization, social reproduction

Topics: Extractive Industries, Gender, Women, Gender Roles, Gendered Power Relations, Livelihoods Regions: Africa, Central Africa, East Africa Countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Uganda

Year: 2019

Citation:

Stewart, Jennifer, Richard Kibombo, and L. Pauline Rankin. 2020. "Gendered Livelihoods in the Artisanal Mining sector in the Great Lakes Region." Canadian Journal of African Studies/Revue canadienne des études africaines 54 (1): 37-56.

Authors: Jennifer Stewart, Richard Kibombo, L. Pauline Rankin

Abstract:

Keywords: Gender, livelihoods, work, economic well-being, artisanal small-scale mining, exploitation minière artisanale et à petite échelle, genre, moyens de subsistance, travail, bien-être économique

Topics: Extractive Industries, Gender, Women, Men, Gender Analysis, Livelihoods Regions: Africa, Central Africa, East Africa Countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Uganda

Year: 2020

Citation:

Otto, Opira, Aida Isinika, and Herman Musahara. 2019. Land Tenure Dynamics in East Africa : Changing Practices and Rights to Land. Current African Issues 65.

Authors: Opira Otto, Aida Isinika, Herman Musahara

Abstract:

Agriculture remains the main source of livelihood for most rural people in East Africa. Farming is dominated by smallholders, of whom the majority are women. Their tenure and access to land is important for reducing rural poverty, enhancing food security and stimulating agricultural development. Secure tenure represents one of the most critical challenges to the development of sustainable agriculture in the region. In an effort to understand the land question and its variation across the region, this book analyses the land reforms, their context and dynamics. The book presents recent studies on the dynamics of land tenure and land tenure reforms in East Africa with a focus on Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. By selecting these five countries, the book is able to show the changing practices and variations in the land tenure dynamics and explain how they relate to historical and more contemporary issues. The chapters are written by researchers, policy makers and activists with a diverse background and experience/expertise in relation to the land question. Their contributions offer a multiperspective basis for critical rethinking and reflection on the future of the land question in East Africa. 

Keywords: land tenure, land ownership, land acquisition, farmers, women's rights, agricultural development, urbanization, East Africa

Annotation:

Topics: Agriculture, Economies, Poverty, Environment, Gender, Women, Land Tenure, Livelihoods, Rights, Land Rights, Women's Rights Regions: Africa, Central Africa, East Africa Countries: Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda

Year: 2019

Citation:

Dancer, Helen. 2017. “An Equal Right to Inherit? Women’s Land Rights, Customary Law and Constitutional Reform in Tanzania.” Social & Legal Studies 26 (3): 291–310.

Author: Helen Dancer

Abstract:

This article explores contemporary contestations surrounding women’s inheritance of land in Africa. Legal activism has gained momentum, both in agendas for law reform and in test case litigation, which reached the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in ES and SC v. United Republic of Tanzania. Comparing the approach of Tanzania to that of its neighbours, Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda, this article explores patterns of resistance and omission towards enshrining an equal right to inherit in land and succession laws. It identifies two main reasons: neoliberal drivers for land law reform of the 1990s and sociopolitical sensitivity surrounding inheritance of land. It argues that a progressive approach to constitutional and law reform on women’s land rights requires understanding of the realities of claims to family land based on kinship relations. It calls for a holistic approach to land, marriage and inheritance law reform underpinned with constitutional rights to equality and progressive interpretations of living customary law.

Keywords: Africa, CEDAW, Constitution, customary law, Gender, inheritance, land, Tanzania, women

Annotation:

Topics: Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Rights, Land Rights Regions: Africa, Central Africa, East Africa Countries: Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda

Year: 2017

Citation:

Musinguzi, Laban, Vianny Natugonza, Jackson Efitre, and Richard Ogutu-Ohwayo. 2018. “The Role of Gender in Improving Adaptation to Climate Change among Small-Scale Fishers.” Climate and Development 10 (6): 566-76.

Authors: Laban Musinguzi, Vianny Natugonza, Jackson Efitre, Richard Ogutu-Ohwayo

Abstract:

Climate change disproportionately affects marginalized groups, especially women. To guide the integration of gender roles in interventions to improve adaptation, we examined gender roles among fishers on Lake Wamala, Uganda, which has been increasingly affected by climate change. We found lower participation of women than men in preharvest and postharvest fishing activities, with 99% of fishers and 92.9% of fish processors and traders combined being men. The men had more fishing experience, started fishing at a younger age and exited at a later age, targeted more species, used more fishing gears and bought more fish for processing and trading. Although we observed diversification to non-fishery livelihoods, such as crop and livestock production to increase food security and income among others, income from these activities was not controlled or shared equally between men and women. Compared to men, women worked longer hours, engaging in more simultaneous activities both in and out of the home and reported less time resting. The income controlled by women was used directly to meet household needs. The implications of these differences for adaptation, what men and women can do best to enhance adaptation and how some adaptation practices and interventions can be implemented to benefit both men and women are discussed.

Keywords: adaptation, climate change, small-scale fishers, Gender, livelihoods, Uganda

Topics: Economies, Environment, Climate Change, Gender, Gender Roles, Gendered Discourses, Gendered Power Relations, Households, Livelihoods Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Uganda

Year: 2018