Ugandan Peace Activist Betty Bigombe Addresses the Challenges of Conflict Negotiation

When two opposing sides in a conflict finally agree to work with a peace negotiator, they often find new hurdles rather than a quick and easy solution, explained Betty Bigombe at the Elliott School's Distinguished Women in International Affairs series.

"Next time I am asked to mediate, I will mediate between mediators," said Bigombe, who was chief negotiator between the Ugandan government and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). The LRA has engaged in armed rebellion against the Ugandan government in one of Africa's longest-running conflicts. Its leader Joseph Kony declares himself to be a Christian prophet and seeks to create a state based on the Ten Commandments. Human rights groups have accused Kony and the LRA of widespread abuses, including mutilation, rape, and the abduction of children to use as soldiers.

Addressing an audience of Elliott School students, faculty, alumni, and friends, Bigombe explained that war in Uganda has lasted for 22 years—longer, she pointed out, than many in the audience had been alive. According to a recent Reuters article, violence has killed thousands and displaced nearly two million.

Bigombe outlined the challenges of negotiating between warring factions, which she described as "one step forward; 10 steps back." She said the news media can complicate negotiations when they leak information to satisfy an appetite for coverage of the story, while "spoilers" who profit from war see peace as "cutting off their source of livelihood." Even the negotiating parties are skeptical of mediators and constantly question their intentions. "You can very easily become a punching bag," Bigombe admitted.

Refugee International estimates about 60,000 children have been abducted, many of them used as sex slaves and soldiers in the LRA. Bigombe wondered aloud to what extent children can be held responsible for murder and rape if they themselves were abducted and turned into killing machines, who achieve rank by "competing for brutality."

Bigombe also addressed the difficult task of serving as a woman negotiator. "Their reaction was 'It's just a woman,'" she recalled. "'Why would you send a woman if you are serious to end the war?'"

In the end, Bigombe's advice to aspiring negotiators was to use their ears. "Patience is a virtue in mediation," she said, "Sometimes you just have to listen even to someone speaking utter rubbish, who you know is guilty."

A tradition in the Distinguished Women series is that the speaker is introduced by an Elliott School student. In her introductory remarks, senior Karly Geers of Shawnee, Kansas, referred to Bigombe as a "beacon of light," who inspired not only Ugandan women, but also women around the world.

An international affairs major with concentrations in international development and African regional studies, Geers spent her junior year studying in Dakar, Senegal, and Kampala, Uganda, and is currently an intern with the Africa program at Freedom House. She told Bigombe, "Your remarkable contribution to peace efforts in northern Uganda has afforded you the position of a role model to so many young women such as myself, seeking to make a difference in the field of international affairs."

The Distinguished Women series is provided by the support of Elliott School parents Jack and Pam Cumming.