Uganda

International Alert recently launched a new publication series, part of the project ‘Strengthening the Economic Dimensions of Peacebuilding’.

International Alert–Uganda recently launched Contributing to a Peace Economy in Northern Uganda: A Guide for Investors, a report that provides information and advice for investors seeking to operate in northern Uganda in order to assist them in maximising profits while ensuring that they contribute to the peace and development of the region. Taking in consideration the sensitivities around investments in northern Uganda, the guide identifies how these can be conflict-sensitive and therefore promote peaceful economic recovery.

A new report examining the potential of Uganda’s newly discovered oil reserves was released this month by International Alert in Uganda. The findings reveal that the country has a unique opportunity to harness the power of oil for peace and development.

The report was launched at an event in central Kampala attended by leaders of civil society, media and districts, oil representatives, parliamentarians and the Minister for Oil of the Government of Uganda, Hon. Peter Lokeris.

The five years of relative peace in Northern Uganda has enabled the majority of former Internally Displaced Persons to return to their home areas and begin rebuilding their lives. During and after the long war in Northern Uganda, women have emerged as critical economic actors, taking advantage of economic opportunities to secure their families’ livelihood, security and advancement.

Full report

The ‘Mobilising the Ugandan Business Community for Peace’ scoping study project undertaken by International Alert and funded by Swedish SIDA, ran from October 2005-July 2006. The purpose of the research was to assess the potential of the private sector in Uganda to address Uganda’s conflicts and contribute to peacebuilding. It was also intended to lay the groundwork for any future SIDA/ International Alert work in this area.

Full report

This is the report of a consultation workshop jointly organised by International Alert and the Eastern African Sub-Regional Support Initiative for the Advancement of Women (EASSI) in partnership with the Women and Gender Studies Department at Makerere University. The workshop is part of a regional research project aimed at assessing the impact of women’s political participation in countries emerging from conflict in the Great Lakes Region of Africa.

Full report

The attention and interest of the various stakeholders in rebuilding Northern Uganda’s economy as part of peace and recovery present critically important opportunities for positive change and a move to sustainable peace in the region, following years of economic decline and underdevelopment during the decades of conflict. But how strategic are these plans, given the challenges that persist, and when seen from a peacebuilding perspective? Are the opportunities to address root causes, immediate consequences, and ongoing threats of war being seized?

Full report

This series of four country case studies explores the ways in which the economic causes, drivers and impacts of conflict have been tackled in different ways in a number of conflict-affected countries where Alert works. The aim is to encourage cross-country learning, and inform what has become a vibrant international debate in the last few years on how to adapt economic development interventions to conflict contexts, to make them conflict-sensitive, and able to support longer-term peacebuilding.

Report

This report examines the potential of Uganda’s newly discovered oil reserves and recommends increased transparency and principled leadership to promote broad economic opportunities of oil discovery for peace and development in Uganda. This discovery of oil, taking place within a context of a variety of tensions that exist on both sides of the DRC-Uganda border, represents a potential risk of conflict and presents a peacebuilding challenge for local communities, the government, private sector investors, donors and civil society.

Briefing paper