TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE PEACE IN UGANDA? - a study of peacebuilding in northern Uganda and the involvement of the civil society during the LRA/ government of Uganda peace process of 2006-2007 Anna Svenson Spring term of 2007 Master thesis Political Sciences, POM 556 Supervisor: Emil Uddhammar TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................. 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..................................................................................................... 7 PART I – INTRODUCTION OF THE PROJECT AND METHODOLOGICAL DISCUSSION ........................................................................................................................... 8 1. INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................ 9 1.1 Background ...................................................................................................................... 9 1.2 Purpose and research questions...................................................................................... 10 1.3 Limitations ..................................................................................................................... 11 1.4 Disposition ..................................................................................................................... 11 2. METHODOLOGICAL DISCUSSION ............................................................................ 13 2.1 The project – choice and planning ................................................................................. 13 2.2 Qualitative literature studies........................................................................................... 14 2.3. In the field ..................................................................................................................... 15 2.3.1 Doing research in developing countries .................................................................. 15 2.3.2 Sampling.................................................................................................................. 16 2.3.3 Interviewing ............................................................................................................ 16 2.4 Validity and reliability ................................................................................................... 18 PART II - THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK.................................................................... 19 3. BUILDING SUSTAINABLE PEACE.............................................................................. 20 3.1 Peacebuilding ................................................................................................................. 20 3.2 Actor’s approach ............................................................................................................ 21 3.4 Strategies for peacebuilding........................................................................................... 23 3.4.1 Diplomacy – Negotiations, compromises and bargaining ...................................... 23 3.4.2 The civil society and women as peacebuilders ....................................................... 23 3.5 Analytical framework..................................................................................................... 25 PART III - PERFORMANCE OF THE PROJECT AND EMPIRICAL FINDINGS ... 28 4. UGANDA ............................................................................................................................ 29 4.1 General facts................................................................................................................... 29 4.2 The Conflict.................................................................................................................... 29 4.2.1 Underlying causes of the conflict............................................................................ 29 4.2.2 The Lord’s Resistance Army................................................................................... 30 4.2.3 The conflict proceeds .............................................................................................. 32 4.3 The Juba talks................................................................................................................. 34 4.3.1 Preparations............................................................................................................. 34 4.3.2 The talks set off....................................................................................................... 35 4.3.3 Ceasefire.................................................................................................................. 36 2 4.3.4 The current situation................................................................................................ 36 4.4 The actors ....................................................................................................................... 40 4.4.1 Top leadership......................................................................................................... 40 4.4.2 Middlerange leadership........................................................................................... 42 4.4.3 Grassroots leadership .............................................................................................. 42 4.5 The peacebuilding strategies .......................................................................................... 43 4.6 The impact of the civil society ....................................................................................... 44 5. ANALYSIS.......................................................................................................................... 48 5.1 The conflict .................................................................................................................... 48 5.2 The actors ....................................................................................................................... 49 5.3 The peacebuilding strategies .......................................................................................... 50 5.4 The civil society ............................................................................................................. 52 6. CONCLUSIONS................................................................................................................. 54 Future Research.................................................................................................................... 55 REFERENCES....................................................................................................................... 56 APPENDIX 1 .......................................................................................................................... 63 APPENDIX 2 .......................................................................................................................... 64 APPENDIX 3 .......................................................................................................................... 68 3 LIST OF APPENDICES: APPENDIX 1: Map of Uganda p. 63 APPENDIX 2: The agreement on cessation of hostilities p. 64 APPENDIX 3: Interview guide p. 68 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Actors and approaches to peacebuilding p. 22 Figure 2: The actors in the peace talks p. 40 Figure 3: The actors and the peacebuilding activities p. 43 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS LRA – Lord’s Resistance Army GoU – Government of Uganda UPDF – Uganda People’s Defence Force ICC – International Criminal Court RDC – Resident District Commissioner NRM – National Resistance Movement MFS – Minor Field Study Sida – Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency IDP – Internally Displaced People NGO – Non Governmental Organisation ICG- International Crisis Group UWONET – Uganda Women’s Network UNIFEM – United Nation’s Development Fund for Women LC – Local Council 4 ABSTRACT Växjö University School of Social Sciences, 2007-05-25 Political Sciences 61-100, POM 556, Master thesis Title: Towards sustainable peace in Uganda? – a study of peacebuilding in northern Uganda and the involvement of the civil society during the LRA/ government of Uganda peace process of 2006-2007 Author: Anna Svenson, 820831-2929 Supervisor: Emil Uddhammar This study was performed during the period March – May of 2007 in Kampala and Gulu district, Uganda, and it was made possible due to a scholarship from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). The main focus of the study is to examine and analyse the peace process taking place in Juba (the Juba talks), southern Sudan, with the goal to solve the 20 year old conflict in northern Uganda between the government of Uganda and the rebel group the Lord’s Resistance Army. I am doing this by, first; identify the actors involved by using John Paul Lederach’s pyramid which includes three levels of actors, second; study different methods for peacebuilding and thereafter identify which methods have been used in the Ugandan case and third; discover to what extent the civil society and more specifically women’s organisations have contributed to this process. The data collected consist of qualitative literature studies, analyses of articles dealing with the peace talks and interviews with representatives from different levels of the Ugandan society. The analyse of the material shows that all levels of the society have been involved to some extent, but that the peace process is mainly characterized by the top-down approach to peacebuilding,