The Ododo Wa exhibit is a survivor centred approach to advocacy. YorkU’s yFile places the exhibit within the context of United Nations Security Council’s adoption of Resolution 2467 on 23 April 2019. This resolution “articulates a survivor-centred approach to the prevention and response to conflict-related sexual violence.”

In this YouTube video annotation on the left, Grace Acan defines survivor-centred justice for war-affected women.

The arts magazine GalleriesWest places the exhibit in relation to the Nobel Peace Prize winners Dr. Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad. Mukwege and Murad are known for their efforts against the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war. The University of Manitoba’s news represents the exhibit in the context of Uganda’s transitional justice policy of June 2019. News media shows the exhibit is timely and the dialogues in inspires as necessary.

The curatorial approach to making the exhibit is also based on a survivor-centred approach. CMHR curator Isabelle Masson acknowledges that for activists organizing around issues of sexual violence in war, it is important to minimize risks of re-traumatization or even further traumatization (Bitu Tshikudi, 2019). For these reasons, the exhibit aims to establish a sustainable and supportive storytelling process. Survivor-centred storytelling necessitates an environment that focuses on their needs, their voices, and honours their leadership in defining justice and reparations. 

Tensions about narrative ownership also emerge in response to the exhibit. As Masson reflects on the Uganda National Museum event in December 2019, one audience member asked “Why do we need Canadians to tell our stories?” (Masson, 2020). Canadian journalists and artists assert that it is difficult to “imagine” what Acan and Amony went through (Alfa, 2019; Ikemiya, 2019). In some cases, Canadian journalists asked, “What can Canadians do to help?” (Bitu Tshikudi, 2019).  

In response, Acan, Amony and those involved with making the exhibit assert that Canadians can help by a) listening to survivors, b) paying attention to survivors’ leadership in regards to their needs, and c) seeing how one can help, as directed by survivors, “at this moment” (Masson in Bitu Tshikudi, 2019). The exhibit functions as an example of survivor's activism that holds opportunities for survivor-centred knowledge mobilization, learning, pedagogy, dialogue, and justice.