Dr. Julaina A. Obika

Associate Professor

Julaina A. Obika is Associate Professor at the Institute of Peace and Strategic Studies, Gulu University, Uganda. Her research examines the intersections of conflict, gender, mobility, and resource governance in post-conflict societies, with a particular focus on northern Uganda and the wider East African region. Drawing on long-term ethnographic engagement, her work explores how ordinary people navigate social transformation in contexts shaped by war, displacement, labour migration, and changing livelihood opportunities.

She has published extensively on land governance and conflict, gender and peacebuilding, labour migration to the Middle East, and regional integration in East Africa. Her recent work has appeared in the Journal of Eastern African Studies, Nordic Journal of African Studies, and Anthropology Today. She is also co-editor of Marriage Matters: Imagining Love and Belonging in Uganda (UCL Press, 2025), which examines changing social relations and aspirations in contemporary Uganda.

Associate Professor Obika leads and contributes to several international collaborative research and teaching initiatives. She is Coordinator of the Erasmus+ funded EU–Africa Relations and Regional Integration in East Africa (EARRIEA) project at Gulu University, Principal Investigator of the Changing In-fertilities in Uganda (CIFU) project, Principal Investigator of the Imagining gender futures in Uganda (IMAGENU) Project, and a researcher with the AfriquEurope consortium as well as the Jean Monnet in Africa Centre of Excellence. Beyond her research, she serves as Chairperson of the Gulu University Research Ethics Committee, where she provides leadership in research ethics governance and mentors emerging scholars in responsible research practices.

Her current research explores how gendered power relations, labour migration, and resource politics reshape belonging, family life, and social transformation in post-conflict Northern Uganda Uganda and across the African continent.

Qualifications

Institution Period Degree obtained
Gulu University 2013-2021 PhD Peace and Security Studies
Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University 2007-2008 MA Conflict Transformation Studies
Makerere University Kampala 2000-2003 BA Social Sciences

Research Interests

Post conflict, gender, migration and mobility, kinship, and governance.

Publications

Mogensen, H. O., & Obika, J. A. (2025) . (2025) . Moving ahead through confinement: Ugandan women working in the Middle East . Journal of Eastern African Studies, pp. 1–18
Schneidermann, N., Obika, J. A., & Meinert, L. (2025) . (2025) . Marriage matters in Uganda: An introduction . In: L. Meinert, J. A. Obika, & N. Schneidermann (Eds.), , Marriage matters: Imagining love and belonging in Uganda
Meinert, L., Obika, J. A., & Schneidermann, N. (Eds.). (2025) . (2025) . Marriage matters: Imagining love and belonging in Uganda . Available at: https://uclpress.co.uk/book/marriage-matters/
Obika, J.A. (2024) . (2024) . Partnership and labour migration: Ugandans in the Middle East
Obika, J. A., & Mogensen, H. O. (2023) . (2023) . Gender . In: L. Meinert & S. R. Whyte (Eds.),, This land is not for sale: Trust and transitions in Northern Uganda
Obika, J. A. (2022) . (2022) . Intimate enemies and intimate allies: Land conflicts and microreconciliation after war in Northern Uganda . Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 9(10), pp. 482–496
Obika, J. A. (2022) . (2022) . The intimate governance of land in Northern Uganda . Nordic Journal of African Studies, 31(2), pp. 136–152
Obika, J. A. (2020) . (2022) . The securitisation of the COVID-19 pandemic: Governing the animus of publics in Uganda . Journal of European Studies of the European Community Studies Association (ECSA), pp. 103–125
Obika, J. A., & Onyango, M. (2021) . (2021) . Democratic overstay and the revolting constituency: The EU at the crossroads in (East) Africa . In: J.-M. Trouille, H. Trouille, & P. Uwimbabazi (Eds.), The East African Community: Intraregional integration and EU–EAC relations , pp. 173–190
Obika, J. A., Ndayisaba, L., Trouille, J.-M., & Trouille, H. (Eds.). (2020). . (2020) . Africa, the European Union and China towards a new global order: From pandemic to renewed integration and global cooperation? . Available at: https://research.bangor.ac.uk/en/publications/africa-the-european-union-and-china-towards-a-new-global-order-fr-2/?__cf_chl_f_tk=oqDpt.RypGlZs9y5qXMHKwc872ojD2BiAeGXPTjIJwI-1782812565-1.0.1.1-CQmIwhVieZOsulTTNEwnS5GVQaqirZyhQme.EGtOnOU
Obika Julaina A, Ovuga Emilio . (2018) . “I Forgive to Forget”: Implications for Community Restoration and Unity in Northern Uganda . Journal of African Conflicts and Peace Studies, [online] Volume 4(1). Available at: https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/jacaps/vol4/iss1/5
Obika, J. A., Adol, B. O., Babiiha, S. M., & Whyte, M. (2018) . (2018) . Contesting claims to gardens and land: Gendered practice in post-war Northern Uganda . In: M. H. Bruun, P. J. L. Cockburn, B. Skaerlund, & M. Thorup (Eds.), , Contested property claims: What disagreement tells us about ownership , pp. 205–220
Julaina A. Obika, Ben Adol Otto, Sulayman Mpisi Babiiha, Michael Whyte . (2017) . Contesting claims to gardens and land Gendered practice in post-war northern Uganda . In: , Contested Property Claims
Obika, J.A. (2017) . (2017) . Women and Land in Acholi Sub-region: Safeguarding Rights, Promoting Access
Whyte, S. R., Meinert, L., & Obika, J. A. (2015) . (2015) . Untying wrongs in Northern Uganda . In: C. Olsen & W. van Beek (Eds.),, Evil encounters: Cosmologies of the everyday in Africa.
Lotte Meinert, Julaina A. Obika, Susan Reynolds Whyte . (2014) . Crafting forgiveness accounts after war: Editing for effect in northern Uganda , pp. 10-14
Ovuga, E., Obika, J. A., Olido, K., Opiyo, E. A. (Eds) 2014 . (2014) . After armed conflict in Northern Uganda . In: Ovuga, E., Obika, J. A., Olido, K., Opiyo, E. A. (Eds). , Conflict and peace studies in Africa: Peace and Peace Building: Enhancing Human Security
Olido, K., Obika, J. A., Opiyo, E. A., Kiduma, R., Ovuga, E. (2014) . (2014) . Community perceptions of peace and peacebuilding efforts in Acholi sub-Region, Northern Uganda . In: Ovuga, E., Obika, J. A., Olido, K., Opiyo, E. A. (Eds, Conflict and peace studies in Africa: Peace and Peace Building: Enhancing Human Security
Obika, J. A., Ovuga, E., Opiyo, E. A., Olido, K. (2014) . (2014) . The road to peace in Northern Uganda: The role of the media . In: Ovuga, E., Obika, J. A., Olido, K., Opiyo, E. A. (Eds), Conflict and peace studies in Africa: Peace and Peace Building: Enhancing Human Security
Olido, K., Ovuga, E., Obika, J. A., Opiyo, E. A., Kiduma, R., (2014) . (2014) . Monitoring community perceptions of peace and peacebuilding in Acholi sub-Region: A survey conducted in Kitgum and Lamwo districts . In: Ovuga, E., Obika, J. A., Olido, K., Opiyo, E. A. (Eds). , Conflict and peace studies in Africa: Peace and Peace Building: Enhancing Human Security
Obika, J. A., Olido, K., Opiyo, E. A., & Ovuga, E. (2014) . (2014) . The road to peace in Northern Uganda: The role of the media . In: E. Ovuga, J. A. Obika, K. Olido, & E. A. Opiyo (Eds.), Conflict and peace studies in Africa: Peace and peacebuilding—Enhancing human security
Ovuga, E., Obika, J. A., Olido, K., & Opiyo, E. A. (Eds.). (2014). . (2014) . Conflict and peace studies in Africa: Peace and peacebuilding Enhancing human security
Hanne O. Mogensen, Obika Julaina . (2013) . Speaking forgiveness in northern Uganda From armed conflicts to land conflicts . Journal of Peace and Security Studies
Ovuga, E., Opiyo, E. A., Obika, J. A., Olido, K. (Eds.) . (2013) . Conflict and Peace Studies in Africa: Peace and peacebuilding concepts and perceptions in Northern Uganda
Meinert, L., & Obika, J. A. (2013) . (2013) . At redigere tilgivelse: Et lydsamarbejde mellem kunst og antropologi . Jordens Folk, 2, pp. 18–25
Obika, J. A., & Bibangambah, H. (2013) . (2013) . Climate change and peacebuilding among pastoralist communities in north-eastern Uganda and western Kenya . In: K. Omeje & T. Hepner (Eds.), Conflict and peacebuilding in the African Great Lakes Region , pp. 141–157
Ovuga, E., Opiyo, E., Obika, J. A., & Olido, K. (Eds.). (2012) . (2012) . Conflict and peace studies in Africa: Peace and peacebuilding—Concepts and perceptions in Northern Uganda
Lyn Snodgrass, Julaina Obika . (2011) . Reintegrating former child soldiers into their communities in northern Uganda: A case study . In: , Governance in the 21st Century, pp. 221-232
Ovuga, E., Obika, J. A., Whyte, S. R., & Meinert, L. (2011) . (2011) . Attainment of Positive Mental Health Through Forgiveness in Northern Uganda . African Journal of Traumatic Stress, [online] Volume 2(2), pp. 71–78. Available at: https://researchprofiles.ku.dk/da/publications/attainment-of-positive-mental-health-through-forgiveness-in-north/?__cf_chl_f_tk=aiFSIH_nIj906t3ofbp8Wap9jtKm0IfMoSiMJ4MwxjE-1782809778-1.0.1.1-kUt54KgEpMUYqUEhrrXd1MqX1GrkGTSMT51w1vKLNzk
Snodgrass, L., & Obika, J. A. (2011) . (2011) . The reintegration of formerly abducted children in northern Uganda . In: K. Kondlo & C. Ejiogu (Eds.),, Africa in focus: Governance in the 21st century , pp. 221–232
Obika Julaina Asinasi . (2008) . A Study of the Reintegration of Former Child Soldiers: The Case of GUSCO, Northern Uganda
Obika, J. A. (2008) . (2008) . A study of the reintegration of former child soldiers: A case of GUSCO, northern Uganda (Unpublished master’s dissertation). Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

Projects

The Changing In-fertilities in Uganda: Governing reproductive health and belonging (CIFU) (DKK 10,000,000)
    Dr. Juliana A . Obika - Principal Investigator
The European Union and Africa in a Multi Crises World (AfriquEurope), a Consortium of partners from various universities and Think Tanks, with the University of Peloponnese, Greece as Lead
    Dr. Julaina A. Obika- Researcher and partner
Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence, Jean-Monnet in Africa, a collaboration between the University of Bradford, UK and the Protestant Institute of Arts and Social Sciences, Rwanda (Euros 100,000).
    Dr. Julaina A. Obika - Coordinator and partner
Imagining Gender Futures in Uganda (IMAGENU), Research collaboration between two Danish universities and Gulu University, financed by the Research Committee for Development Research (FFU) (DKK 9,998,000)
    Dr. Julaina A. Obika - Principal Investigator and senior researcher
Empowerment in the Workplace: Women in Africa, a research collaboration between Gulu University, University of Pretoria and two Australian Universities, funded by AAUN (AUD 10,000)
    Dr. Julaina A. Obika - Senior researcher
The Erasmus+ Student and Staff Exchange Program between Gulu University and Bradford University, United Kingdom, funded by the European Commission (Euros 53,630.00).
    Dr. Julaina A. Obika - Coordinator
Jean-Monnet Network, EU, Africa and China in the Global Age’- Acronym: EU-EAC, in collaboration with Universities and Think-tanks in UK, China, Rwanda, Kenya, Burundi, and Tanzania, funded by the European Commission (Euros 300,000).
    Dr. Julaina A. Obika - Country Liaison and coordinator
Governing Transition in Northern Uganda: Trust and Land. Ph.D. Fellow in this Research collaboration between two Danish universities and Gulu University, funded by the Research Committee for Development Research (FFU).
    Dr. Julaina A. Obika
The Development Partnerships for Higher Learning (DelPHE) Project on capacity-building for conflict and development in the African Great Lakes region in partnership with United States International University – Kenya, Lubumbashi University- DRC and Bradford University, funded by the UK Government.
    Dr. Julaina A. Obika – Coordinator
Changing Human Security: Recovery from Armed Conflict in Northern Uganda. Research collaboration between three Danish universities and Gulu University, financed by the Research Committee for Development Research (FFU).
    Dr. Julaina A. Obika - Junior researcher

Supervision

I supervise BA (International Relations and Security Studies), MA (Conflict Transformation Studies & Governance and Ethics) and PhD (Peace and Security Studies; Social and Cultural Anthropology) projects. The research projects supervised to successful completion include gender relations, conflict and food security; identity and social reintegration; participatory governance; reproductive health; access to justice; environmental conservation; land conflicts; human-wildlife conflicts; human-environmental health frictions, etc.

More Information

Associate Professor Julaina A. Obika is a member of various Doctoral Committees, Boards and other University Committees, most notably, The Gulu University Research Ethics Committee