Some Congolese women went to Uganda to join their partners who served in the Uganda Peoples Defence Force (UPDF). They met the men while the UPDF operated in Congo. They were the wives, girlfriends, and concubines of the soldiers. Now left with many children, they have been ‘abandoned in districts surrounding UPDF barracks such as Kotido, Kaboong, and Nakapiripirit.’

These women were eventually deserted by their partners and left with no financial support. They and their children ‘suffer from abuse, stigma, malnutrition, famine, and marginalisation from the community.’ To fend for their brood, these women have been doing odd jobs.

According to Maxi Muwonge, Programme Manager for International Organisation of Migration (IOM) in Kotido District, “They are in a situation where they have no food, no basic facilities, they can’t access some of these services because they are chased away since they are not known as members of the community and hence find themselves marginalized.”

These mothers have also resorted to prostitution to earn a living for their children, all in the name of survival. They sell sex mostly in the areas of Acholi and Karamoja. Some have even moved to South Sudan to engage in the sex trade. HIV infection is the last thing on their minds as they are desperate to earn some cash for their families’ food.

Via Monitor Online