ARMED CONFLICT AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF PERSONS IN INTERNALLY DISPLACED CAMPS IN ABIA SUB-COUNTY, ALEBTONG DISTRiCT, UGANDA

ABSTRACT

The study sought to examine armed conflict and socio-economic development of persons in

internally displaced camps in Abia Sub-County, Alebtong District, Uganda. The study objectives

were; to identify the causes of armed conflict in Uganda, to examine the extent of socio-economic

development of persons in Abia IDP camp and to establish the effects of armed conflict on socio

economic development of persons in IDPs in Uganda. The study applied an explanatory research

design to reflect aspects of perception, feelings, experiences, facts and emotional feelings of the

study respondents in finding out the influence of armed conflict on the lives of internally displaced

persons in Abia IDP Camp. This was because the research questions that were generated

necessitate observing explanatory, descriptive and analytical aspects of the research. The study

population involved 58 participants where 10 Abia IDP Camp officials, 5 UN officials, 10

Government officials (Ministry of Immigration) and 35 internally displaced persons. A sample

size of 50 respondents was determined through purposive and random sampling methods. Data

was collected from primary and secondary sources using questionnaires and interviews. After

collecting data, the researcher organized well-answered questionnaire, data was edited and sorted

for the next stage. The data was presented in tabular form, pie charts and bar graphs with

frequencies and percentages. The study findings revealed that the sample constituted of 50

respondents of which 66% were females and the 34% remaining were males. This implies that

females are the majority. This implies that the most respondents were women due to the societal

beliefs that they are the ones who are mostly affected by armed conflicts in the community for

instance they raped and sexually abused during such situations hence contributing to poor socio

economic development. The study concludes that clanism is the main cause of the violent conflict

in Uganda. Clan pride and the culture of taking revenge against any member of the perpetrators

clan (i.e., collective punishment) are not only causes of traditional clan wars but the cause of the

recent violent conflict. For some theorists, pride or prestige is considered a type of resource, albeit

not a quantifiable one. There are numerous examples that show how clan pride motivated conflicts.

The study recommends that violations against the civilian population are often considered as non

gender-specific and are therefore monitored and dealt with in similar ways. However, civilians —

men and women, adults and children are invariably not treated similarly. It is therefore necessary

to increase understanding of how security is different for men and women, girls and boys, in each

situation, in order to learn of violations against specific groups.