Marvin Kalb: The Institute of Peace works with peacebuilders from all over the world, supporting their efforts to end violent conflicts and promote reconciliation. Betty Bigombe came to the Institute from Uganda to better understand the dynamics of conflict in her native country. As a government minister, she used negotiating skills to confront those who were committing atrocities against civilians. Through her personal determination and strong commitment, she made an important contribution to peacebuilding efforts. Here is her story:

Betty Bigombe: I’m Betty Bigombe. I am from Uganda. For the last 23 years of my life, I’ve been trying to end the war between the government of Uganda and the Lord’s Resistance Army. I’ve seen women raped. I’ve seen land mines blow up people right ahead of me. I’ve seen people mutilated.

I made up my mind I was going to do everything possible to reach out to the warlords and talk to them, talk them into a peaceful solution. I went into the jungle knowing very well there were chances of not coming back alive. The leader can decide to kill you. He can decide to mutilate you. But I was determined because I felt that if meeting with the rebels could bring peace, would save lives, it was worthwhile making the commitment.

Being a woman at the beginning played against me. The first reaction was, “This is a male domain.” The rebels actually one after the other asked me to leave or else they would kill me. But women are more patient. They’re more ready to listen. And so even if I was angry, I knew of the atrocities they were committing, but I had to sit and talk to them, in a gentle manner like a mother.

As a peace activist, I believe that persuading the warring parties to go to the table to talk is the best option because military solution doesn’t give the defeated side opportunity to address their grievances. There might be some semblance of peace for a short period of time, but sooner or later their grievances will be much. When you bring a political solution to any kind of violent conflict, then all these other underlying causes are addressed, and therefore, people can start living together in harmony.

(Schoolgirls singing song in African language.)

Peace is absolutely possible in Uganda; we’ve gone very far although no peace agreement has been signed. The rebels have moved out of Northern Uganda. It’s just gratifying to see they are building their homes. Schools are being rebuilt. We are taking our lives in our own hands. We are not going to allow war to occur any more. We will do everything possible to stop it.

(Song ends).