Women's Peace March in Northern Uganda

Sarah sends this in from Gulu, Northern Uganda:

November 9, 2006
Gulu, Northern Uganda

As we drove back from our visits of the camps on the outskirts of Gulu, we came upon a traffic jam in downtown. Our driver told us, "It is the women with the peace march!"

As we got closer, we could hear the music blaring and the beating of the drums. Everyone was turned out on both sides of the road and we maneuvered to get a good view. Soon the women came into view – some wearing UNIFEM t-shirts, many with small babies tied to their backs, some in colorful green dresses. In the front were the older ladies dressed in their finery.

They strutted and danced and chanted. Many were carrying banners that said, "No peace without women." They were marching to Juba Sudan to protest the fact that there are very few women involved in the peace talks between the government of Uganda and the Lord’s Resistance Army. When they saw me taking photos, they began to cheer and clap. "We want peace now. Now is the time for peace. No peace without women."