News & events

Karamoja security needs assessment

11 November 2010

On Tuesday 9 November Saferworld launched a report of a conflict and security assessment of Karamoja at an event in Kampala. The report, which is based on detailed community level research and interviews with key government and non-government stakeholders, recommends a review of security and development initiatives in the region.

The Karamoja region of north eastern Uganda is one of the most marginalised parts of the country. For decades it has suffered from high levels of conflict and insecurity, alongside low levels of development. Conflicts between pastoralist groups are fuelled by the vast amounts of small arms that have saturated the region in recent years. Disarmament attempts by the Ugandan army seem to have improved the security situation to some extent, but some of the techniques used have also considerably damaged relationships with the people in Karamoja due to alleged human rights abuses. As a region that has been reliant on food assistance for more than 40 years, there have also been increasing reports of relief efforts fuelling conflict between communities. The Government of Uganda has initiated big development plans for the region, but it is not always clear whether all the benefits of such programming reach communities on the ground.

Saferworld believes that all future efforts to address the problems in Karamoja must be informed by the needs and experiences of local communities and be based on a solid grasp of the factors which contribute to conflict or peace. Working with two local community-based organisations, Action for Poverty Reduction and Livestock Management in Karamoja (ARELIMOK) and the Warrior Squad Foundation (WSF), we undertook a conflict and security assessment in Moroto and Kotido districts, gathering the experiences and views of more than 300 people including women, elders, youth and former warriors, children, ngimurok (traditional healers) and civic leaders, allowing the Karamojong themselves to identify the issues contributing to conflict and insecurity.

The research findings were validated in workshops with the communities at the centre of the research and with development and security actors working in Karamoja (who were equally interviewed as part of the research) including representatives of the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF), Uganda Police, Uganda Human Rights Commission and international NGOs.

Based on this research we make several recommendations to the Government of Uganda, development agencies and other actors in the region to ensure that their work is more sensitive to the conflict and security needs of communities. We suggest a review of current disarmament techniques and building communications between the police, army and the community so that local people are involved in security decisions that affect their lives. We also suggest more vigorous monitoring of whether assistance to the region actually makes a difference to people on the ground and contribute to long-term peace.

 

Read Karamoja conflict and security assessment

Watch NTV Uganda report on the launch