Eric Awich Ochen

Real name: 
Eric Awich Ochen

Staff

Title: 
Dr.
First Name: 
Eric Awich
Surname: 
Ochen
Desgination: 
Lecturer
Office No.: 
N/A
Office Building: 
Arts Building
About Me: 

Dr. Eric Awich Ochen is currently a Senior lecturer at Makerere University’s Department of Social Work and Social Administration, School of Social Sciences, in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Kampala Uganda. His main interests revolve around issues of rights-based approaches to development, Social impacts and risks considerations as a result of development interventions (especially on children and young people), and integration of social (including gender issues) in development processes. With trainings in gender analysis, projects appraisals, project management and evaluations, Dr Ochen is well conversant with a repertoire of tools which facilitate the considerations of social impacts of development interventions including analysis of the social costs of projects investments from a societal point of view and gender analysis tools. 

Dr Ochen completed his doctoral studies at the Centre for Applied Childhood Studies in the School of Human and Health Sciences, University of Huddersfield, UK in November, 2011. His PhD explores the narratives of young women’s experiences of the conflict and reintegration process in Northern Uganda, as well as an assessment of development interventions to address the emergent socio-economic crisis in the region. He also graduated with an M.Sc. in Development and Project Planning (with Distinction) from the University of Bradford in 2002 and also hold a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work and Social Administration, from Makerere University in Uganda (1999).  Dr Ochen has completed Post-doctoral training at the University of Cambridge (2016 and 2017-2018) and Bradford between 2016 and 2017.

Dr Eric Awich Ochen has been Honorary Visiting Senior Lecturer and Commonwealth Academic fellow at the University of Bradford’s John and Elnora Ferguson Centre for African Studies, 2016-2017, and a Carnegie Corporation CAPREX fellow at the Center of African Studies, University of  Cambridge.  Dr Ochen was PI and Country Director for the project Co-investigator and Country Director, Uganda, None in three Project for the elimination of Gender Based Violence (Uganda, United Kingdom, Jamaica, China and India), funded by Research and Innovation funds UK, £5,000,000, October 2017- December 2021, with approximately £380,000 being expended at Makerere University. Principal Investigator and Southern Partner Regional Coordinator, Building resilient communities in Eastern Africa, NORHED II Norwegian capacity in higher education funded project, US$ 1,950,000.  He is also Principal Investigator, for the study “a Randomized Control Trial (RCT) Approach to Enhancing the Learning Experience for Pupils and Students in Schools in Central Uganda”, September 2020- June 2022, funded at USD 44,000.  Eric was also Co-investigator, Knowledge, adherence and the lived experiences of refugees in COVID-19: A comparative assessment of urban and rural refugee settings in Uganda, funded to the tune of £158,000 by UKAid and Research for Health in Humanitarian Crises.

Dr Ochen, is the Associate Editor for the Children and Youth Services Review, an Elsevier Journal. He is also a reviewer for the Journal of Modern African Studies (Cambridge University Press), Journal of Child Abuse and Neglect (Elsevier); the British Journal of Social Work (Oxford University Press); and Journal of Refugee Studies (Oxford University Press). Dr Ochen is the author of several articles on children and young people in conflict situations, spanning publications in journals such as Child Abuse and Neglect, British Journal of Social Work, Journal of Community Practice, Anthropology Southern Africa, Infant Mental Health journal, Social Sciences, Vienna Journal of African Studies; Journal of Affective Disorders; International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health, and Childhood in Africa: An Inter Disciplinary Journal. several high quality book chapter contributions. Dr. Ochen is currently working on a post-doctoral project on how Young people participate in post conflict peace building in northern Uganda, and an assessment of how youth subcultures influences young people behavior in a formerly conflict affected areas.

Publications

 

  1. Stephen Lawoko, Gloria Seruwagi, Denis Muhangi, Eric Awich. Ochen, Betty Okot, Eric Lugada, Andrew Masaba, Dunstan P. Ddamulira, Brian Luswata, Catherine L. Nakidde, Felix Kaducu  (2021) COVID-19 risk behaviors in humanitarian settings: a cross-sectional study among conflict refugees in Uganda International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health, 8(5):2132-2143  DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20211729
  2. Daniel Boduszek, Agata Debowska, Eric Awich Ochen, Christine Fray, Esther Nanfuka Kalule,Karyl Powell-Booth, Florence Turyomurugyendo, Kenisha Nelson, Roxanne Harvey, Dominic Wimott, Samantha J. Mason (2021) Prevalence and correlates of non-suicidal self-injury, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempt among children and adolescents: Findings from Uganda and Jamaica. Journal of Affective Disorders 283: ages 172-178.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2021.01.063
  3. Kimuli, Gloria, Catherine Nakidde, Felix Otieno ; Joshua Kayiwa;Brian Luswata Eric Lugada;Eric Awich Ochen, Denis Muhangi, Betty Okot, Dunstan Ddamulira Andrew Masaba and Stephen Lawoko (2021);  Health worker Preparedness for COVID-19 Management and Implementation Experiences: A Mixed Methods Study in Uganda’s Refugee-Hosting Districts. Research Square. Reprints https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-674967/v1
  4. Nanfuka, K. Esther, Turyomurugyendo, Florence, Eric, A Ochen, and Graham Gibbs. 2020.  Leaving a Violent Child Marriage: Experiences of Adult Survivors in Uganda. Soc. Sci. 2020, 9(10), 172,  https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci9100172
  5. Raikes, Benjamin, Romeo, Asiminei, Alexandru Cuza., Karene Nathaniel-Decaires., Eric A. Ochen, George Pascaru and Gloria Seruwagi. 2019. A Comparison of The Position of Grandmother Carers for Children with Parents in Prison in the UK, Trinidad and Tobago, Romania And Uganda. Pp. 229-250 in the Palgrave Handbook of Prison and the Family edited by Marie Hutton and Dominique Moran..   London: Palgrave MacMillan.
  6. Ochen, Eric A. 2018. “Military in Uganda: War, peace and support for democratic Consolidation.” PP, 54-78 in African Peace Militaries: War, Peace and Democratic Governance, edited by David Francis.  Abingdon: Routledge
  7. Ochen, Eric A. 2018. “The Quest for Development Transformation in Northern Uganda: A Critical Reflection”. Chem Chemi  International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, Kenyatta University, 10 (1)1-14  
  8. Ochen, Eric A., Laban, Musinguzi; Esther K. Nanfuka, Eugene Ssemakula, Rebecca Kukundakwe, Chris Opesen, and Paul Bukuluki. 2017. “The Female Genital Mutilation Economy and the Rights of the Girl Child in Northeastern Uganda”.  Pp. 129-144 in  Child Abuse and Neglect in Uganda edited by Eddy J Walakira and David K Mafigiri.. Gewerbestrasse (Switzerland): Springer International,
  9. Ochen, Eric A., John Sengendo and Elinor Chemonges. 2017. “Do Child Rights Legislation and Policies Effectively Protect Children from Maltreatment? Reflection from a Nationwide Sectoral In-Depth Analysis”. Pp. 271-298 in Child Abuse and Neglect in Uganda edited by Eddy J. Walakira and David K. Mafigiri.. Gewerbestrasse (Switzerland): Springer International
  10. Ochen, Eric A. 2017. “Women and Liberal Peacebuilding in Post-Conflict Northern Uganda: community social work agenda revisited? African Sociological Review, 21 (2): 15-35.
  11. Musisi David, H. and Eric A. Ochen. 2017. “The care and support of vulnerable children by foster care families in Uganda: Lessons in social justice and social protection”. Childhood in Africa: An Inter Disciplinary Journal, 4 (1): 34-44
  12. Ochen, Eric A. 2016. “Psychosocial Support for youth affected by armed conflict in Northern Uganda”. Pp 453-466 in Transformative Social Work Practice, edited by Erik Schott & Eugenia L. Weiss. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications
  13. Ochen, Eric Awich (2015) Children and Young Mothers Agency during Conflict: a review of the experiences of young people in Northern Uganda. Journal of Child Abuse and Neglect. 42:183-194.
  14. Ochen, Eric Awich. 2015. “Traditional Acholi mechanisms for reintegrating Ugandan child abductees”. Anthropology Southern Africa, 37(3-4): 239-251, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23323256.2014.993809
  15. Walakira E.J, Eric A. Ochen, Paul Bukuluki, and Sue Allan .2014. “Residential care for abandoned children and their integration into family based setting in Uganda: Lessons for policy and programming. Infant Mental Health Journal special issue, 35(2):144-150. DOI:10.1002/imhj.21432.
  16. Walker, David, Paola Pereznieto, Grace Bantebya, and Eric A. Ochen. 2014. Sexual exploitation of adolescent girls in Uganda: The drivers, consequences and responses to the ‘sugar daddy’ phenomenon. London: Overseas Development Institute Research report https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/sites/default/files/documents...
  17. Bantebya, Grace, Eric A. Ochen, Paola Pereznieto and David Walker. 2014.  Cross-generational and transactional sexual relations in Uganda: Income poverty as a risk factor for adolescents. London: Overseas Development Institute
  18. Ochen, Eric Awich. 2013. “Gender Issues in Reintegration: A Feminist and Rights-Based Analysis of the Experiences of Formerly Abducted Child Mothers in Northern Uganda”. Pp.197-216 in: Political Conflicts and Peace building in the African Great Lakes Region, edited by  Kenneth Omeje  and Tricia Hepner-Redeker..  Bloomington (In): Indiana University Press,
  19. Ochen, Eric Awich .2013. “Women on the Periphery? Gendered Survival among formerly abducted young women in Northern Uganda.” Pp. 40-55 in Personal and Public Lives and Relationships in a Changing Social World Editors: Sharon Wray and Rosemary Rae, Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars publishing.
  20. Ochen, Eric Awich, Adele D. Jones & James W. McAuley. 2013. “Formerly Abducted Child Mothers in Northern Uganda: A Critique of Modern Structures for Child Protection and Reintegration.” Pp. 89-111 in Social Development and Social Work: learning from Africa edited by Alice Butterfield and Abye, Tasse.  New York Routledge Taylor and Francis.
  21. Ochen, Eric A., Eria Olowo-Onyango and Christine Mbabazi Mpyangu. 2013. “Reflections on Mainstreaming Internship in University Curricula with specific reference to the Experience of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Makerere University”. Makerere University journal of Higher education (MAJOHE), 5 (1): 67-80 http://www.ajol.info/index.php/majohe/article/view/101188 http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/majohe.v5i1.5
  22. Ochen, Eric Awich. 2013. Engendering Social Rejection among Young Women affected by armed conflict in northern Uganda: a case study of formerly abducted young women. Journal of Development Studies, 3(2):115-132
  23. Ochen, Eric Awich. 2012. Protecting and Meeting Rights of Children during Conflict? Reflections on the activities of three Indigenous Social Work Agencies in Northern Uganda, British Journal of Social Work Special Issue: Social Work and Political Context: Engagement and Negotiations, 42:1192-1212.
  24. Ochen, Eric Awich & Robert Okeny. 2011. “Supporting Children Affected by Armed Conflict in Northern Uganda: Muse and Reflections from the Activities of Gulu Support the Children Organization (GUSCO) 1994-2010”. Reflection: Narratives of professional helping, special issue on Social work innovations in Africa, 17(3):17-27.
  25. Ochen, Eric A., Paul Bukuluki and Firminus Mugumya. 2010. “Gender Dynamics, Conflict and Food Insecurity: Lessons from Northern Uganda”. Pp. 259-290 in Issues in Social Development and Local Governance in Uganda, edited by Nicholas Awortwi and Charles Kanyesigye. Maastricht: Shaker Publishers.
  26. Ochen, Eric A .2008. Community Action Plans: Does Representative Participation Meet Needs of Poor and Marginalized In Northern Uganda? Pp. 142-180 in Aspects of Social Development in Uganda, edited by Nicholas Awortwi and Auma Okwany.  Maastricht (Netherlands): Shaker Publishing,
  27. Mugumya, Firminus, Ochen, Eric A., Alex Twinamatsiko, and Ronald Mukuye.  2008. Promoting Downward Accountability through Decentralization: Challenges and Prospects for Uganda’s Local Governments.  Pp. 181-212 in Aspects of Social Development in Uganda, edited by Nicholas Awortwi and Auma Okwany. Maastricht: Shaker publishing.  

 

Email: 
eaochen@chuss.mak.ac.ug
Research Interests: 
Community development
Post conflict interventions
CV: 
PDF icon CV_OCHEN_ERIC_AWICH _2022_ACADEMIC.pdf