Engendering Social Capital: Perspectives from Rural Development Networks in Uganda

This paper examines the link between gender, social capital and rural development in Uganda. Noting that gender relations involve struggles over control of strategic resources and relationships, it highlights the complex interrelationships between power, resources, social networks and collaborations in the analysis of social capital. In so doing, the paper examines the impact of these (ongoing) processes of resistance, negotiation, social networks, collaborations and interdependency on rural development programmes in the country

Beyond Masculinity: Gender, Conflict and Post-Conflict Reconstruction in Northern Uganda

Masculinity and femininity debates of armed conflict in Africa have always regarded men as fighters and women as passive victims of war. The exclusion of women from the armed forces in most traditional societies originated from the assumption that women are a weaker sex and therefore cannot manage military life. Nevertheless, women in Uganda have voluntarily joined the armed forces, while some of them have been abducted and forcefully recruited into the rebel forces. Notwithstanding the central role women have played in the armed conflict in Northern Uganda, they have been side-lined in the processes of peace negotiation and post conflict reconstruction ofthe region. This paper looks at how masculinity is manipulated in conflict and the role women have played in the conflict, peace process and post conflict reconstruction in Northern Uganda.Keywords · Gender · Post-conflict reconstruction · Transitional justic