Documentation of Women's Realities in Situations of Armed Conflict

This initiative is informed by the belief that documenting the experiences of women is crucial in facilitating an effective post-conflict reconstruction process, as well as averting future conflicts. Thus, research and gathering of information - that is, the capturing of women's stories - is thought to be instrumental in contributing feminists' information to the global knowledge base. Isis-WICCE feel that this is a critical strategy for building an informed society that values and ensures women's rights. By recording gender-specific violations and abuses that are often overlooked and deemed secondary to other mainstream human rights violations (and determining the nature and extent of the crimes committed against women and girls, and the consequences of these crimes for their livelihoods), organisers seek to contribute to the realisation of sustainable peace.

Participatory strategies are central in this awareness-raising and advocacy initiative, and technology is frequently the key vehicle for bringing women's voices to the fore. For instance, at the national level (Uganda), Isis-WICCE has carried out in-depth studies in Central, Eastern, and Northern Uganda. One project involved the use of audio recordings, video, photography, and face-to-face interviews to highlight women's experiences with conflict in the districts of Luwero, Gulu, Kitgum, Kasese, Soroti, Katakwi and Kumi. Isis-WICCE developed the concept and script for this project in consultation with professionals in research, health, and the media. Participants included Isis-WICCE programme staff, members of Parliament from the district, local leaders, and - crucially - women war survivors. That is, the documentation was accomplished with the full participation of women from the affected communities, including women combatants, affected women, and veterans. The script shared and discussed with project partners Heinrich Boll Foundation and United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). This consultation was designed to ensure that the instruments used in the documentation brought out pertinent gender-related issues and included disaggregated data. As part of this process, a few men were included as a control group.

The documentation itself was carried out using different ICTs - as well as face-to-face interaction. Organisers used tape recorders, video recording equipment, and photography. They also engaged in meetings, focus group discussions (FGDs), and validation workshops. Isis-WICCE contends that the use of these varied tools and types of exchanges contributed to the production of a variety of materials, in different formats, which illuminate the experiences of women in situations of armed conflict. These materials included research reports and video documentaries, which were pre-tested at the district level in workshops that included women survivors, local leaders from the affected communities, medical professionals, human rights activists, women rights activists, communication specialists, and the media. This process raised a number of issues that were further incorporated into the final research reports and video.

Drawing on this participatory process, the results of the documentation were used for advocacy purposes. Programme staff were featured on a number of radio and television talk shows, where they debated issues highlighted in the findings. This process was designed to stimulate debate among key stakeholders and the general public on the need to resolve conflicts amicably and to promote peacebuilding. As part of this effort to make visible the different violations inflicted upon women in situations of armed conflict, workshops were held to disseminate the findings. The goal was to spur policymakers to address the situation.

Similarly, in Southern Sudan, Isis-WICCE has documented in the Central Equatorial State. In addition, through the Isis-WICCE Exchange Programme Institutes, which train women in human rights, peacebuilding, and documentation, the trained women have also documented case studies of women's rights violations in their countries. As of January 2008, Isis-WICCE is carrying out the documentation of women's experiences in Liberia.

Conflict, Women, Gender.

According to organisers, armed conflicts in different parts of the world have greatly exacerbated the continent's under-development - through the destruction of both the infrastructure and the physical and mental well-being of its populace. Isis-WICCE mantains that, whereas the roles of men in most of these armed conflicts have been well documented, for decades there has been hardly any mention of the experiences of women - let alone the roles they have played in conflict prevention and management as well as in post-conflict reconstruction. In response to the need for women to communicate ideas, create solidarity networks, and share information in order to overcome gender inequalities, Isis-WICCE recognised the power of knowledge in contributing to the transformation of women, and responded to the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which called for the "promotion of research, collection of data and compiling of statistics on causes, nature, seriousness and consequences of violence against women, and the effectiveness of measures implemented to prevent and redress violence against women" (Paragraph 129 a and b).

Isis-WICCE is a global action-oriented women's resource centre that was established in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1974 with the objective of strengthening women's communicative mechanisms. In 1993, Isis-WICCE relocated to Africa in an effort to tap African women's voices by documenting their realities and making them part of the global knowledge base.

As of January 2008, several research reports have been produced as a result of the documentations described above. They are available both in soft and hard copies; some of them may be accessed on the Isis-WICCE website.

• Women's Experiences of Armed Conflict in Uganda: The Case of Luwero District 1980-1986, 1999
• Short Term Intervention of the Psychological and Gynecological Consequences of Armed Conflict in Luwero District, 1999
• Women's Experiences of Armed Conflict In Uganda Gulu District, 1986-1999, 2001
• Medical Interventional Study of War Affected Gulu District, Uganda, 2001
• Documentation of Teso Women's Experiences of Armed Conflict, 1987-2001, 2002
• Medical Interventional Study of War Affected Teso Region, Uganda, 2002
• Women's Experiences during Armed Conflict in Southern Sudan, 1983 - 2005: The Case of Juba County - Central Equatorial State, 2006