By Staff Writer
“Children of God are peaceful, where there is conflict, then they focus all efforts on making peace.” These were the words of Rev. Father Kato Adolf while he was talking about peacebuilding to the different staff members from several organizations in Bundibugyo district recently.
Naturally, families are supposed to peaceful to each other and exercise love as these are the same people who live together, care about each other and share several other things. They are children of God; they are supposed to be peaceful. But when conflict arises, it must be changed to peace.
Dishonesty is one of the issues causing conflict at family and community levels in Uganda. ACORD Uganda has however been proactive enough as to take the first step and tackle this issue in Wakiso. The dishonesty in some families in Wakiso area are not caused by alien issues, it always zeros down to the issue of openness. This is not limited to the families themselves but also cuts across to the leadership. Through partnerships such as the one with Girls for Girls (G4G) dialogue, that aims to help young women develop the courage, vision, and skills to take on public leadership, ACORD Uganda is acting fast in Wakiso district to tackle this conflict.
Speaking at the G4G dialogue session recently, Nabikofu Fatumah one of the panelists of the day confirmed that dishonesty is causing conflict at family and community level. She advocated for openness among families and the community leadership to be able to foster peace. “Lack of transparency by the community leaders across the region. When this is achieved, the issue of dishonesty at family and community level in Wakiso district will be a thing of the past.”
What makes this issue worse is that not only Wakiso district is affected but several other districts in Uganda. It may not have happened by now, but it could happen eventually. Many youths have all witnessed conflict in one way or another and some have gone further to find out what has caused it.
The good news is that conflict negotiation, reconciliation, mediations and several other methods have been employed by ACORD Uganda to curb on conflict in the families and communities of Wakiso district and Uganda at large through peacebuilding.
The onus is on the youth of society to identify these conflicts and speak out openly about them so that we can all start a new journey to peacebuilding since we are all children of God who are supposed to be peaceful.
About ACORD Uganda
The Agency for Cooperation and Research in Development – Uganda (ACORD-U) is a Ugandan National Non-Governmental Organisation that has worked in Uganda since 1979 with headquarters in Nsambya-Kampala and several other offices across the Country. ACORD-U aspires to contribute towards Uganda’s Development and Humanitarian Responses for Vulnerable Communities in Rural and Peri-Urban Areas. Currently, ACORD-U Implements interventions in more than 23 Districts in the South-western, Western, Northern, West-Nile, and Eastern Parts of Uganda.
