ABSTRACT
Reintegration in northern Uganda was both shaped and given meaning by several stakeholders, namely formerly abducted persons themselves, their communities, the state and the many humanitarian organisations operating in the region. Studies have focused on the first two stakeholders of reintegration. The question of how humanitarian organisations and the state influenced returning home and reintegration is under-explored. This chapter argues that policies and narratives of paternalism and race informed these post-war processes and experiences. It explores the tension between the state, humanitarian organisations and Acholi systems, showing that not only external intervention failed to mitigate the socio-cultural issues, but that at times the biases within their approaches even made things worse.
