In Uganda, with our partner Transcultural Psychosocial Organisation (TPO) we trained 85 health officials (35 women and 50 men) on the World Health Organization’s Mental Health Gap Action Programme – which aims to scale up services for mental, neurological and substance use disorders, especially for lowand middle-income countries. The programme has successfully increased the detection of symptoms and reduced their severity.

We worked with partners – including TPO, Karamoja Development Forum (KDF), Rural Initiative for Community Empowerment West Nile (RICE WN), Gulu Women Economic Development and Globalisation (GWED-G) and Rwenzori Information Centre Networks (RICNET) – to support 56 CAGs across 14 districts in Karamoja, Northern Uganda, West Nile and Western Uganda, to promote community security and improved mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS). This included facilitating trainings for the CAGs on land rights, acquisition procedures and referral pathways; environmental protection; conflict sensitivity and conflict resolution; transitional justice; and MHPSS. As a result of integrating MHPSS training, awareness-raising and support into our peacebuilding programming, we are also seeing CAGs playing an important role, not only in raising awareness of the importance of mental health but in referring community members for support – as CAGs are increasingly seen as trusted community structures which individuals approach for advice and referrals.

Community groups were involved in resolving a number of inter- and intra-communal disputes and conflicts, often over access to and management of resources. For example, CAGs resolved a conflict between farmers and cattle keepers in Kasese district, in the Western region, over grazing pastures in a national park. In the north of the country, natural resources also create tensions between host and refugee communities. In Adjumani, following the facilitation of joint awarenessraising campaigns and the implementation of the local CAG’s action plan, one such host–refugee conflict was successfully resolved. We now see host communities engaging peacefully with refugee community members; one example of this was a host community developing a roadmap to adopt a savings model implemented by a refugee women’s savings group on financial literacy.