SWAY releases report on the war-affected female youth in northern Uganda
The Survey of War-Affected Youth (SWAY) has released a major research paper, The State of Female Youth in Northern Uganda. Building on interviews with hundreds of female youth in northern Uganda, the report contributes greatly to understanding how war has affected female youth in northern Uganda, using these findings to provide concrete recommendations on how the Ugandan government and humanitarian organizations can generate better services for them.
The SWAY report provides insight into the diverse and uneven ways in which war has impacted female youth in northern Uganda. Income and employment levels are extremely low among young women - most work infrequently and earn less than $1 per day. One in five female youth in the north report abduction by the LRA. A quarter of these females were given to LRA commanders as forced wives and experienced the highest rates of sexual violence. Only one in three female youth in northern Uganda are functionally literate, and women who return from abduction with children fathered by LRA commanders are even less likely to access education. Among the most important findings of the SWAY research is that formerly-abducted female youth are "strong and resilient, not traumatized pariahs" - an important lesson for a media culture that at times portrays former child soldiers as dangerous and hopelessly traumatized.
The report recommends that assistance to female war-affected youth should focus on strengthening livelihoods, especially those related to agriculture, and increasing access to secondary education (grades 8 and above) and vocational training. Building local capacity to address domestic and sexual violence is also imperative. The SWAY findings also suggest that assistance programs which target specific categories of youth (formerly-abducted, orphans, etc.) may not be effective and may in fact stigmatize such groups. The report recommends that the Ugandan government and humanitarian groups recognize that all female youth have been affected by the conflict and design programs that target specific needs such as literacy and livelihood development, as well as psychosocial support for the minority of female youth who suffer disabling symptoms of emotional distress.
Read the full April 2008 SWAY report here.
The report recommends that assistance to female war-affected youth should focus on strengthening livelihoods, especially those related to agriculture, and increasing access to secondary education (grades 8 and above) and vocational training. Building local capacity to address domestic and sexual violence is also imperative. The SWAY findings also suggest that assistance programs which target specific categories of youth (formerly-abducted, orphans, etc.) may not be effective and may in fact stigmatize such groups. The report recommends that the Ugandan government and humanitarian groups recognize that all female youth have been affected by the conflict and design programs that target specific needs such as literacy and livelihood development, as well as psychosocial support for the minority of female youth who suffer disabling symptoms of emotional distress.
Read the full April 2008 SWAY report here.