Introducing a survivor-centred policy framework for conflict-induced internal displacement in Uganda

Internal displacement remains a major humanitarian and policy challenge across Africa, and Uganda is often cited as a regional leader following its 2004 National Policy on Internally Displaced Persons and early ratification of the Kampala Convention, a groundbreaking regional treaty designed to prevent displacement, protect affected populations, and ensure durable solutions. Yet implementation in post-conflict northern Uganda has centred on resettlement, security, and infrastructure, leaving the long-term recovery needs of women who survived conflict-related sexual violence during the Lord’s Resistance Army insurgency insufficiently addressed. These needs extend beyond physical return to include psychosocial healing, social recognition, cultural and spiritual restoration, and meaningful agency. Drawing on a targeted review of secondary literature, comparative African case studies, and theoretical perspectives from social support theory, feminist recovery scholarship, and displacement studies, this article develops a Survivor-Centred Policy Framework. The framework comprises four interlinked pillars, namely Recognition, Access, Restoration, and Agency, that reorient displacement governance toward survivor-defined pathways of recovery. Without these pillars, women rely on fragmented NGO initiatives and informal family or faith networks, perpetuating stigma, exclusion, and vulnerability. While grounded in northern Uganda, the framework has broader African relevance. By linking to commitments such as the Kampala Convention and the Women, Peace and Security agenda, it offers a roadmap for governments, NGOs, and international partners seeking durable, gender-responsive, and rights-based solutions to internal displacement.