Our latest research in Uganda examines the impact of the Peace, Recovery and Development Plan for Northern Uganda (PRDP) on peace and conflict in the region.
The PRDP was launched in 2007 following the ceasefire a year earlier between the government and the Lord’s Resistance Army. It is not only a response to immediate post-conflict issues, but also aims to eliminate the big discrepancies in the development between the north and south of the country. It therefore has four strategic objectives:
- Consolidation of state authority;
- Rebuilding and empowering communities;
- Revitalisation of the economy; and
- Peacebuilding and reconciliation.
In December 2009 the UK government agreed to support the PRDP through the UK Department for International Development (DFID), under the Post-Conflict Development Programme in Northern Uganda [9] (PCDP). DFID also agreed to support the formation of an Advisory Consortium on Conflict Sensitivity [10] (ACCS), led by International Alert, the Refugee Law Project [11] and Saferworld [12]. The aim of ACCS is to assist DFID and its partners in strengthening the potential of the PRDP and recovery process by addressing the causes of conflict and contributing to sustainable peace and stability.
As part of our role in ACCS, International Alert developed five peace and conflict indicators (PCIs) to help measure the impact of the PRDP and PCDP:
- confidence in sustained peace and security;
- responsiveness of local government to community needs;
- conflict-resolution mechanisms for addressing community-level security and incidence of sexual and gender-based violence;
- access to economic opportunity among selected groups; and
- competition and grievance between PRDP regions, and between the north and south of Uganda.
These indicators provide vital information that feeds directly into DFID’s annual progress review as well as the government of Uganda’s monitoring of the PRDP.
Using these indicators, in July 2011 we commissioned a baseline study in six districts of Acholi and Lango sub-regions to assess the various interventions under the PRDP and PCDP. In 2012 we conducted a broader baseline study in 21 districts in the eight regions of the PRDP as well as three control districts outside the PRDP.
We have now published the two baseline reports, which we hope will facilitate evidence-based dialogue with the various stakeholders involved in the recovery process in northern Uganda and will help to improve how the impacts of interventions in the region are monitored.
To find our more, read our study on Acholi and Lango here [13] and our study on northern Uganda here [14].
Photo: © International Alert/SWORD Images