The effects of three decades of violence on the populations of Uganda’s Greater North have been
immense.1 One challenge lies in identifying what policies and programmes can help these populations
recover and adapt their livelihoods in a post-conflict environment.
Based on a robust review of evidence in the existing literature on Karamoja and Northern Uganda, this
evidence paper summarises outstanding challenges to livelihood recovery as well as interventions led
by government, people, aid agencies and the private sector to support livelihoods and increase the
provision of basic services and social protection. The overall objective is to help pinpoint strategic
opportunities for future research on how best to promote livelihood security and access to services for
conflict-affected populations in Uganda’s Greater North.
Over the past three decades, Uganda has experienced some of the world’s worst and most protracted
conflict. Insecurity, in the form of civil war in Northern Uganda and cattle raiding and armed banditry in
Karamoja, has been a major part of millions of people’s lives. Although active conflict and abduction
have ended in Northern Uganda and security has improved in Karamoja, these areas remain very much
affected by conflict, and the situation in both areas is fluid. In Northern Uganda, the withdrawal of the
Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has improved security significantly, enabled the return of over a million
people to their homes and helped spur the rebuilding of lives and livelihoods. The continued
disarmament programme in Karamoja has helped curb road ambushes and large-scale raids, and
government and international efforts to support livelihood recovery and adaptation have increased in
number.