Launched in 2019, the Kroc IPJ Uganda NextGen initiative emerged from the Women Waging Peace network. The Uganda NextGen initiative, which is funded through an anonymous donor, aims to create intergenerational partnerships in which senior and junior women peacemakers collaborate to implement a peacebuilding initiative on a jointly identified need. As part of this effort, the Kroc IPJ established six intergenerational partnerships in 2021 and 2022, bringing together senior and junior women peacemakers.
The purpose of these partnerships is to:
The cohort co-created a country-specific framework to identify general principles that guide intergenerational partnerships in peacebuilding. This process aims to encourage and support future partnerships among different generations of women peacebuilders in Women, Peace and Security and to clarify principles for intergenerational partnerships in the Ugandan context. Read The Uganda NextGen Framework: Guidelines for Intergenerational Peacebuilding.
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Senior Peacebuilder: Harriet Nabankema
Junior Peacebuilder: Elizabeth Kemigisha
Theme: Identifying, recognizing, and responding to violence & sexual harassment in Kalerwe Market.
Year(s): Joined in 2021 and continued in 2022.
Problem Identified: The project will tackle the deliberate normalization of violence and sexual harassment as part of the workplace in Kalerwe Market, Kampala district. Women and girls in this market have continued to suffer these vices because of the lack of institutional policies to respond to sexual harassment and other forms of violence. However, even with the existence of policies and structures, women were continually frustrated when they tried to report cases of these abuses by market heads and committees.
Response: This project will focus on enhancing resolution of the conflicts that manifest in terms of normalization of violence and abuse in Kalerwe Market. This approach is guided by the National Action Plan III on Women, Peace and Security, which recognizes the need to prevent all forms of violence and promote peace within families, communities, and the nation, promote meaningful participation of women in leadership and governance at all levels, and create resolutions addressing issues that undermine social cohesion.
Senior Peacebuilder: Harriet Adong
Junior Peacebuilder: Grace Lwanga
Theme: Strengthening state and non-state actors’ agency on ending violence against women and girls.
Year(s): Joined in 2021 and continued in 2022.
Problem Identified: Poor coordination exists between civil society organizations (CSOs) and government agencies. Despite their critical role as mobilizers of community to demand for equitable delivery of social services and hold leaders accountable, CSOs lack the capacity to galvanize support and create the demand for gender equality measures by effectively engaging in policy dialogue and development of programs.
Response: The project brings together and enhances the capacity of CSOs and government institutions as a functional Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Referral Network for Lira district. The considerable gap between the current role that civil society plays in the design and implementation of social accountability and the participatory role envisaged in the Local Government Act and the Constitution of Uganda needs to be addressed through capacity building, knowledge sharing, and network building. The organizations of the senior and junior peacebuilders will prioritize advocacy among state and non-state actors and influence implementation of the Domestic Violence Act 2010 in Lira district.
Senior Peacebuilder: Immaculate Mukasa
Junior Peacebuilder: Sarah Nakame
Theme: Intergenerational mentoring, learning, and advocacy.
Year(s): Joined in 2021 and continued in 2022.
Problem Identified: In the first phase of the project, the partnership appreciated the importance of cross-generational learning and observed the similarities as well. Regardless of how young or old, love, respect, basic needs, acceptance are key things for a peaceful mind, body and soul.
Response: In the second phase, the partnership will pick on these lessons and deepen engagement with the previously established community. It will expand these dialogues at a higher level with select members of the Women’s Parliamentarians Association. The partnership will have high-level dialogues with the Uganda Women Parliamentary Association (UWOPA) and will continue to carry out the charity's outreach of essential needs.
Senior Peacebuilder: Anne Mary Nantale
Junior Peacebuilder: Jalia Namusabi
Theme: Increasing community participation in the elimination of gender-based violence at the household level in Iganga District.
Year(s): Joined in 2022.
Problem Identified: Gender-based violence, in all its forms, remains underreported and overlooked both inside and outside the Iganga District. The COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted existing gender inequalities and has had a disproportionately negative effect on women. Uganda recorded a surge in domestic violence affecting both urban and rural women, early marriage, and teenage pregnancy.
Response: Violence against women or other gender-based violence is no longer an issue addressed only in the “private sphere," but must be addressed in the public arena where international human rights standards, practices, and implementation can be enforced. The project is aimed at building the capacities of local community members towards the fight against gender-based violence at the household level. This involves the strengthening of gender-specific and child-centered responses to violence through capacity building and strengthened multi-disciplinary cooperation and coordination among relevant factors, such as law enforcement and judicial professionals, IT platforms, and regulatory bodies.
Senior Peacebuilder: Fatuma Nakazzi
Junior Peacebuilder: Rebecca Turyatunga
Theme: Tackling religious intolerance in Sheema District.
Year(s): Joined in 2022.
Problem Identified: Religious intolerance in Sheema municipality in western Uganda is growing, as evident in the use of hate speech by leaders and in social media discussion. This is fueled by differences in political ideologies and economic inequality. These factors open space for radicalization of youth.
Response: To address this problem, Sheema Women Intergenerational Leaders for Interreligious Harmony proposes to hold interfaith dialogues about religious tolerance among the religious leaders who influence vulnerable youth as a prevention strategy towards combating extremism. This project, championed by women religious leaders who are peacebuilders, will create more space for women religious leaders in peacebuilding work to share and exchange workable solutions to addressing interreligious conflict in Sheema Municipality. This will also contribute to women’s agency and leadership in conflict resolution and broader peacebuilding.
Senior Peacebuilder: Jay Abang
Junior Peacebuilder: Rashida Adong
Theme: Strengthening women’s participation in peacebuilding in Lira City.
Year(s): Joined in 2022.
Problem Identified: Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) occurring as a result of normative gender-role expectations, unequal power relations between genders, and norms are driving discrimination and economic deprivation of LGBQ women and female sex workers in Lira City in Northern Uganda.
Response: The partnership will train two peace committees and ten peace mediators in the two divisions of Lira City on leadership and peacebuilding. Developing common approaches to addressing SGBV requires creation of common messaging and social mobilization that is tailored towards intergenerational partnership-building.
