The use of child soldiers violates human rights and international norms, yet children continue to be abused as soldiers, human shields, and they are forced to participate in armed conflicts worldwide. This is shown to impact the children in many ways and therefore they need extra help when leaving the armed groups. The reintegration process is often part of countries' Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) programs and is crucial for both the children's and the country's future. This study aims to examine the reintegration of former childsoldiers in Sierra Leone and northern Uganda. By comparing and analyzing the processes and outcomes in these two countries using existing materials, this study highlights key aspects of reintegration. By using the social integration theory and focusing on the factors of family, school, and religion, this study compares and analyzes the two cases. The results indicate that while both Sierra Leone and northern Uganda have engaged in the reintegration of childsoldiers, their approaches differ. Sierra Leone has demonstrated a more effective process concerning school and family reintegration, whereas northern Uganda has placed greater emphasis on the role of religion, despite efforts to provide both educational opportunities and familial connections for the children.

This thesis argues that the International Criminal Court (ICC) brings a new more deontological paradigm to international interventions, founded upon the universal application of legal principle, and displacing consequentialist notions of justice linked to human rights. Based upon the Court’s Statute and mode of operations, it is argued that this is associated with assumptions concerning the ICC’s primacy, military enforcement, and theory of change. The consequences of this development in volatile contexts are demonstrated. The case study, founded upon analysis from the war-affected community, examines the impact of the International Criminal Court in the Lord’s Resistance Army war, and reveals the relationship between criminal justice enforcement, and community priorities for peace and human rights. On the basis of evidence, and contrary to narratives repeated but unsubstantiated in the literature, it demonstrates that in this case these two imperatives were in opposition to one another. The Court’s pursuit of retributive legal principle was detrimental to the community’s interests in peace and human rights. The subsequent failure of the ICC’s review process to interrogate this important issue is also established. The research establishes that statutory and operational assumptions upon which Court interventions are based do not hold in volatile contexts. For the case study community and elsewhere, this has had adverse impacts, with significant implications for the ICC. The findings indicate that if these issues are not fundamentally addressed, principled international criminal justice enforcement in volatile environments will continue to have profoundly negative human rights consequences.

This thesis argues that the International Criminal Court (ICC) brings a new more deontological paradigm to international interventions, founded upon the universal application of legal principle, and displacing consequentialist notions of justice linked to human rights. Based upon the Court’s Statute and mode of operations, it is argued that this is associated with assumptions concerning the ICC’s primacy, military enforcement, and theory of change. The consequences of this development in volatile contexts are demonstrated. The case study, founded upon analysis from the war-affected community, examines the impact of the International Criminal Court in the Lord’s Resistance Army war, and reveals the relationship between criminal justice enforcement, and community priorities for peace and human rights. On the basis of evidence, and contrary to narratives repeated but unsubstantiated in the literature, it demonstrates that in this case these two imperatives were in opposition to one another. The Court’s pursuit of retributive legal principle was detrimental to the community’s interests in peace and human rights. The subsequent failure of the ICC’s review process to interrogate this important issue is also established. The research establishes that statutory and operational assumptions upon which Court interventions are based do not hold in volatile contexts. For the case study community and elsewhere, this has had adverse impacts, with significant implications for the ICC. The findings indicate that if these issues are not fundamentally addressed, principled international criminal justice enforcement in volatile environments will continue to have profoundly negative human rights consequences.

This study was conducted on the premise that if quality business information is provided to business enterprises, socio-economic transformation could be achieved. The study emanated from the documented problem where business enterprises in northern Uganda were found to depend on "word of mouth" rather than any meaningful formal mechanism for accessing information efficiently. The aim of the study was, therefore, to design an information system for northern Uganda business enterprises. The study makes use of document analysis, questionnaires and interviews. The Small and Medium scale Enterprises (SMEs), information providers and business policy-makers in northern Uganda constituted the population of the study. The data which was collected was edited and analysed to produce graphs, charts and percentages. The main findings indicate that business activities in northern Uganda are diverse - covering almost the entire sector of the economy. The SMEs need information on finance/capital/loans, local markets, business management skills, appropriate technologies, business competitors and security. They are lagging behind in using Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). There is a lack of familiarity with changing technology - especially the Internet. Although the SMEs are making a fundamental contribution to Uganda's economy, they face serious challenges, such as insecurity, inadequate electricity, lack of trained information professionals and appropriate technology to access electronic information. The findings further indicate that respondents want business information to be selective to address their needs. The study concludes that the SMEs need an efficient, effective mechanism to provide the required business information. Hence, it is recommended that a business information system (BIS) design be implemented to address their needs. The BIS should provide business information in terms of legal, technical and economic information as well as contact information and management skills. Information should be processed by means of radio broadcasts, the telephone, short text messages, posters, online and CD-ROM formats - as required by the SMEs managers. To facilitate access, BIS should have telephone services; Internet-based services; online small business workshops; business start up assistant; and Talk to BIS services. BIS should have a flexible interface. / INFORMATION SCIENCE / DLITT ET PHIL (INF SCIENCE)

Disasters due to war and conflict or natural forces are responsible for the 26 million people displaced across the world today. The crisis extends into the temporary, yet indefinite, displacement camps where people live in congested living arrangements, vulnerable to an increased risk of disease, death, and social violence (spousal abuse, rape). Even when chaos subsides, social and physical networks have frayed rendering the temporary displacement camp a permanent home for some. Often, despite this “permanence”, access to adequate services and infrastructure and hence social and economic growth remains in a state of emergency. This thesis proposes that water infrastructure is the key social catalyst for developing these displacement camps into permanent sustainable communities. An urban displacement camp in the town of Gulu, Northern Uganda, is the case study location for a speculative design intervention. During rebel activities from 1996 to 2004, the town of Gulu more than tripled in size, absorbing almost 100,000 displaced people forced to flee their land. These people settled in displacement camps next to, and within the wetlands that border the town on all sides. The urban metabolism of the town has become polluted as the displaced people use, alter and degrade the wetlands because they have no other alternatives. Following the instigation of a peace process in 2006, some people have begun the journey home. However, it is estimated that just over half of these people will continue to live in the squalid camps, without an opportunity to prosper. A strategy is proposed for addressing and subsequently re-defining this urban metabolism. By synthesizing the existing urban fabric with strategies for harnessing the natural landscape, varying scales of water infrastructure are proposed. New opportunities for agricultural production is supported, while the spatial relationships created by the physical structuring of the water infrastructure renews the influence that water collection and distribution has in creating the social locus of a community.

Disasters due to war and conflict or natural forces are responsible for the 26 million people displaced across the world today. The crisis extends into the temporary, yet indefinite, displacement camps where people live in congested living arrangements, vulnerable to an increased risk of disease, death, and social violence (spousal abuse, rape). Even when chaos subsides, social and physical networks have frayed rendering the temporary displacement camp a permanent home for some. Often, despite this “permanence”, access to adequate services and infrastructure and hence social and economic growth remains in a state of emergency. This thesis proposes that water infrastructure is the key social catalyst for developing these displacement camps into permanent sustainable communities. An urban displacement camp in the town of Gulu, Northern Uganda, is the case study location for a speculative design intervention. During rebel activities from 1996 to 2004, the town of Gulu more than tripled in size, absorbing almost 100,000 displaced people forced to flee their land. These people settled in displacement camps next to, and within the wetlands that border the town on all sides. The urban metabolism of the town has become polluted as the displaced people use, alter and degrade the wetlands because they have no other alternatives. Following the instigation of a peace process in 2006, some people have begun the journey home. However, it is estimated that just over half of these people will continue to live in the squalid camps, without an opportunity to prosper. A strategy is proposed for addressing and subsequently re-defining this urban metabolism. By synthesizing the existing urban fabric with strategies for harnessing the natural landscape, varying scales of water infrastructure are proposed. New opportunities for agricultural production is supported, while the spatial relationships created by the physical structuring of the water infrastructure renews the influence that water collection and distribution has in creating the social locus of a community.

This study was conducted on the premise that if quality business information is provided to business enterprises, socio-economic transformation could be achieved. The study emanated from the documented problem where business enterprises in northern Uganda were found to depend on "word of mouth" rather than any meaningful formal mechanism for accessing information efficiently. The aim of the study was, therefore, to design an information system for northern Uganda business enterprises. The study makes use of document analysis, questionnaires and interviews. The Small and Medium scale Enterprises (SMEs), information providers and business policy-makers in northern Uganda constituted the population of the study. The data which was collected was edited and analysed to produce graphs, charts and percentages. The main findings indicate that business activities in northern Uganda are diverse - covering almost the entire sector of the economy. The SMEs need information on finance/capital/loans, local markets, business management skills, appropriate technologies, business competitors and security. They are lagging behind in using Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). There is a lack of familiarity with changing technology - especially the Internet. Although the SMEs are making a fundamental contribution to Uganda's economy, they face serious challenges, such as insecurity, inadequate electricity, lack of trained information professionals and appropriate technology to access electronic information. The findings further indicate that respondents want business information to be selective to address their needs. The study concludes that the SMEs need an efficient, effective mechanism to provide the required business information. Hence, it is recommended that a business information system (BIS) design be implemented to address their needs. The BIS should provide business information in terms of legal, technical and economic information as well as contact information and management skills. Information should be processed by means of radio broadcasts, the telephone, short text messages, posters, online and CD-ROM formats - as required by the SMEs managers. To facilitate access, BIS should have telephone services; Internet-based services; online small business workshops; business start up assistant; and Talk to BIS services. BIS should have a flexible interface. / INFORMATION SCIENCE / DLITT ET PHIL (INF SCIENCE)

This dissertation intends to analyse the practice of amnesties in the context of grave human rights violations using northern Uganda as a case study. It also examines its consistency with the obligation upon states to protect human rights through the prosecution of perpetrators of the said violations. It will, accordingly, analyse the implications of the complementary mandate of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to national jurisdictions. Furthermore, the author also explores the tension which results from national amnesties and the principle of international criminal responsibility, a principle that the ICC has the mandate to enforce. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2007. / A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Law University of Pretoria, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Law (LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa). Prepared under the supervision of Dr Ben Kiromba Twinomugisha of the Faculty of Law, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za / Centre for Human Rights / LLM