This Noble Women's Initiative conference in Antigua, provides an opportunity for benchmarking and to rekindle the fire for a struggle for a peaceful and just world. For true democracy, for peace, justice and equality to become real, the role of women cannot be ignored. Women must look at democracy as something that holds all citizens accountable to it and to one another. A true democracy must be that which provides freedom of expression without fear or favour.
True democracy is not a preserve of special people and offices. Instead, it must be looked at from a broad perspective that permeates all socio-political institutions, beginning from the smallest unit of the family where equal rights must be pushed for, gender violence is condemned, respect for all is promoted and women rights to participate in politics and economic development are nurtured. When all is well in the family, then progress can be made at all levels of our society and only then shall we have peace, justice and mature democracy.
Poor governance, increased political instability and economic uncertainties are issues that undermine women's ambitions to contribute to the development of our nation. For people living in Northern Uganda, the word 'democracy' does not make sense considering the untold suffering and dehumanisation of the people in the displaced people’s camps for over 20 years. Many lives and much property were lost and the entire population lost dignity. “Peace ushered in by the National Resistance Movement,” to these women remains elusive and peace that has boundaries is not sustainable, not just, and breeds discontent.
The issue of gender parity in our society is a challenge nationwide in Uganda. However, in Northern Uganda it becomes a double problem because of the war that dragged on for too long. The stereotype that women are the “weaker sex” becomes irrelevant. Women proved that they are more courageous, resilient, and objective. They became the sole breadwinners in the camps. Day by day they were overwhelmed with challenges. Their children were abducted; they lost and mourned for dear ones; they suffered violence and sexual abuse from the armed forces, their husbands and other men. Helpless, homeless and in a state of abject poverty, yet they never lost hope even when they saw their friends being killed in the process for searching for food, water and firewood. On the other hand, the 'powerful' men became powerless, frustrated and resorted to drug abuse and violence. Such resilience and determination demonstrated the ability of women to lead and spearhead democracy and transform our society.
The role of women in fighting for dependable democracy has been witnessed. Many individuals and groups irrespective of race, social status and religion, identified themselves with the suffering women in Northern Uganda. Through them the voices of these women were heard. In a parochial society, the importance of the women is always down-played. It took time for the voice of the suffering women to reach the Juba Peace talks. With support from many women’s movements the peace torch reached Juba, and the Greater North Women Peace Initiative was born.
The issue that remains paramount now is “will the women war survivors receive justice?” How can justice be arrived at in a court system that calls for evidence and witnesses in a rape case that took place during the war? When we uncritically accept traditional mechanisms of justice, doesn't 'cultural relativism' predominate and keep the women out of being part of the process? Addressing the lack of access to justice by women victims of violence requires immediate and urgent attention. This is crucial for post-conflict peace, justice and democracy in Northern Uganda.
Another impediment to democracy is poverty. Is it possible to engage in democratisation in a state of poverty? Poverty threatens human dignity and life. The poor will always remain powerless unless we begin to redefine democracy in a manner that will be just and fair to all and empower the poor economically. It is not uncommon to see voters selling their rights over 500g of salt given by those who want their vote. Men often take advantage of young girls through rape and defilement and end up either infecting them or making them pregnant, and then buy their way out by paying money to the family of the victims.
The government of Uganda has launched the Peace Recovery and Development plan (PRDP) to address the post-war conflict in Northern Uganda. Unfortunately this programme may not benefit and empower women economically. In a post-war situation we need to disaggregate budget by gender in areas like health, education and agriculture if it is to benefit women. There is need to bring women on board at all levels of policy-making and implementation. The issue of development is one of the structural factors behind conflict and must be placed at the centre of post-conflict recovery. The issues of land ownership and markets in rural areas are crucial if this program is to succeed.
In principle Uganda has pro-women policies. However this is sometimes just 'window dressing'. We need to change gender legislation to address the imbalances that exist at all levels and to affect decisions on issues concerning women. For instance we need to support gender legislation such as the Domestic Relations Bill which met with a lot of challenges because of the parochial nature of our society reflected at the parliamentary level. Sylvia Tamale, a renowned women's activist, gives evidence of this in her paper Fanning The Flame of Feminism in Uganda when she quotes MP Hon Nsubuga Nsambu, who referred to the Domestic Relations Bill as “a nuisance", "a vexation", "a fuss" and a "serious bore”. He urged responsible men not to honour it.
Such attitudes call for women to find new strategies to market and repackage issues concerning women, including searching for allies amongst the men. We need to be united, focused and committed to our goal. It is time to translate these principles into practice and no longer offer the lip service that condones 'window dressing' policies. This Noble Women's Initiative conference offers us just such an opportunity.
