Caitlin Rose
Country: USA
Background: Nursing
Research Project: Reintegration Initiatives and Needs for Formerly abducted Child Soldiers and Child Mothers in Northern Uganda
Background: For two decades, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) fought a dirty war, terrorizing civilians and abducting an estimated 30,000 children in Northern Uganda. These children were subjected to starvation, rape, beatings, killings, and were forced to commit unspeakable atrocities. Now that the LRA has fled Uganda and most of the child soldiers have been released, a new challenge presents itself: how to rehabilitate and reintegrate the formerly abducted child soldiers into society.
Many of the abducted girls suffered even more than their male counterparts; in addition to forced labor and involvement in battle, they were frequently given to rebel leaders as “wives” and repeatedly raped for months or years. Numerous girls returned home with children they had given birth to in captivity, presenting unique challenges to reintegration.
Methods: A total of 49 child mothers participated in five focus group discussions held in the Kitgum and Lamwo districts of Northern Uganda. They discussed the interventions that were the most beneficial and detrimental to their reintegration in the community, and made suggestions for future initiatives based on their needs. Participants were mobilized by a gatekeeper from the Kitgum Concerned Women’s Association (KICWA), which runs a welcome and rehabilitation center for former child soldiers in Northern Uganda. Selection criteria included female gender, current age of at least 18 years, and status of either formerly abducted child soldier or child mother.
Focus group discussions were supplemented by eight key informant interviews with government and NGO staff who worked closely with the population. These interviews, taking place in Kitgum and Gulu, offered expert insights on the same problems from a different perspective.
Findings: Current reintegration strategies can be summarized in four categories: psychosocial, physical health, education, and economic. While the existing activities seem to be having a positive impact, resource constraints were consistently rated among the biggest frustrations by both groups involved in the study. A pattern also emerged of factors which interacted to determine the success of girls’ reintegration in the community. The most influential of these were: presence of a child born in captivity, utilization of reception centers and other rehabilitation services, behavior of the child before abduction and since return, and awareness and sensitivity on the part of the community.
Interpretation: If adequate funding can be obtained, additional programs should be implemented to address the unique and overwhelming needs of formerly abducted child soldiers and child mothers in Northern Uganda. As the country moves away from conflict and towards development, livelihood issues, including education, vocational training, and income-generating activities, take precedence. In order to reduce stigma, many of these projects can include both the aforementioned population and other vulnerable youth in the community.
Key Words: child soldier, child mother, reintegration, rehabilitation, Northern Uganda, LRA
Word Count: 14,638