The National Memory and Peace Documentation Centre (NMPDC)

About NMPDC

The National Memory and Peace Documentation Centre (NMPDC) is a memory initiative of the Refugee Law Project (RLP), School of Law, Makerere University in collaboration with Kitgum District Local Government (KDLG).

The NMPDC documents, archives and communicates memories of conflict-related events as well as experiences of past human rights violations or abuses and legacies of violence.

NMPDC also known as Uganda’s History Clinic- is a living memorial to the victims and survivors of war, armed conflicts and gross human rights violations, a space to promote and celebrate Uganda’s heritage.

NMPDC serves as a documentation and educational facility which integrates history, education, culture, remembrance and human rights in to one space where memories live and memorialisation interfaces with the past.

Ensure that Uganda as a country is united by its future and not divided by its past; a country where people work and live together in harmony, prosperity and peace under democratic, transparent and accountable government which respects the rule of law and uphold human rights and dignity

Challenge the one-sided narrative of Uganda’s conflict history and paint a more holistic picture of what happened based on available documentation and memories of those who experienced it;
Provide war-affected communities with a platform for dialogue and remembrance;
Ignite and facilitate a national dialogue to enable and promote healing, understanding, solidarity and accountability among the communities
Establish a museum as walking path to facilitate healing

To become a central information collection and dissemination hub particularly on matters relating to conflict

NMPDC Programming

NMPDC uses the freedom and rights guaranteed and international rights law as tools to operate along four interrelated programming areas:

Documentation and Archiving: Collect, Record, Organise, Preserve and continuously analyse information related to conflict, including its causes, consequences and the search for solutions through appropriate Transitional Justice mechanisms
Community Outreach: Engaging communities in facilitating and participating in processes of accountability, justice and reconciliation through dialogue
Museum Development: Establishing a museum as a walking path and space that facilitates the healing process at both individual and communal levels
Research and Transitional Justice Advocacy: Engaging in action based research on key transitional discourse to inform TJ advocacy on issues raised by survivors/victims of war

NMPDC Exhibitions 2013 to-date

Officially opened in April 2011 with support from Northern Uganda Transition Initiative, with Bart Kakooza, the Chairperson Law Reform Commission (as he then was) officiating the opening, the Center has seen the coming of age of 2 themed exhibitions:

January 2013 to April 2019: Showcased a display entitled ‘7 years of Peace’, this exhibition focused on the Lord’s Resistance Army conflict in Northern Uganda. The exhibition was revamped in 2019 giving way to a broader exhibition merging the often isolated fields of Transitional Justice and Forced Migration within the Great Lakes region of East Africa.

September 2019 to-date: the current Exhibition on display under the theme ‘The Past’, ‘Harms of War’, ‘Transitional Justice Engagements’ and ‘Emerging Issues’ was launched on September 2019 displaying RLP’s work and documentation under these sub-themes.