Uganda – Women’s Peace Torch – Women’s Peace Caravan to Northern Uganda

Women’s Peace Torch Arrives in Uganda in Solidarity with the
Women of Northern Uganda

The Women’s Peace Torch arrives today in Kampala to begin a journey of
solidarity with the women of Northern Uganda. Having travelled in 2003 to more
than 10 African countries in preparation for the Fourth World Conference on
Women in Beijing with the message, “There is no sustainable development without
peace,” and to the Democratic Republic of Congo during the review of the Dakar
Platform for Action, the Women’s Peace Torch returns to Uganda to light the path
of enduring peace.

Accompanied by women leaders from Kenya and Nyaradzai Gumbonzvanda, Regional
Programme Director for UNIFEM’s East and Horn of Africa Regional Office, the
Women’s Peace Torch will be lit to launch the Women’s Peace Caravan for Uganda.
The launch and lighting ceremony will take place in Constitution Square,
Kampala, beginning at 10:00 a.m. today. The ceremony will include statements by
representatives of local and national government, women’s civil society
organizations, and the international community, and will feature performances by
local artists under the theme “Women of Uganda Want Peace, and Peace Needs
Women.” The Women’s Peace Torch will be received by the Deputy Speaker of
Parliament, the Honourable Rebecca Kadaga, and women members of Parliament. The
Peace Torch will then be displayed in the Uganda Parliament building until the
Women’s Peace Caravan begins its trek towards Kitgum in Northern Uganda.

These activities are timed to coincide with the global commemoration of the
6th anniversary of UN Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace
and security, and the Security Council’s open debate on women’s roles in the
consolidation of peace. The Women’s Peace Caravan is being undertaken by the
Civil Society Women’s Peace Coalition, a group of women’s organizations that
have come together under the Uganda Women’s Network (UWONET), with UNIFEM’s
support, to work towards women’s participation in all aspects of the Juba peace
process. The Coalition has already undertaken a series of consultations with
women in Northern Uganda to gather their views on the ongoing peace process and
will use these findings to develop a women’s position paper on the Juba peace
negotiations.

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