THE CHALLENGE

• Over 8 million children, 51% of the child population, are either moderately (43%) or critically vulnerable (8 %)
• Over 2.2 million children (11.3% of children under the age of 18) are orphans
• About 2.5 million children live with some form of disability in Uganda— representing 13% of all children in Uganda
• Over 31,000 children between the ages of 10 to 17 are heading households
• About 40,000 children live in residential childcare institutions, and approximately 10,000 live on the streets with no adult care
• On average, 11 per 100,000 juveniles were arrested by police in 2013
• More than half of 15–19-year-old women have experienced physical or sexual violence
• About 26 girls are defiled everyday
• 8 in 10 children in primary and secondary school experience sexual violence. Male teachers are the main perpetrators.

OUR INTERVENTION 3

OUR GOAL – REDUCE RISKS OF ABUSE, EXPLOITATION, VIOLENCE AND NEGLECT

Objective 1: BETTER PREVENTION: Create evidence-based awareness on the impact of violence on child safety, well-being and development
Strategies

1. Focus on gender equity, male involvement, and prevention of GBV, including CEFM.
2. Work closely with the Government of Uganda’s MoLGSD and other relevant actors to reinforce the revise family law and promote dialogue within communities to encourage the delay of marriage until age 18 or older and support the prevention and cancellation of CEFM.
3. Develop and Implement the National Roadmap to End Child Marriage and Female Genital Mutilation.
4. Conduct training for criminal justice actors and religious and customary authorities to become more effective at preventing and ending these practices
5. Support the national and district level government to reform alternative care in favor of family and community-based care for children
6. Strengthen the child-protection system
7. Support children’s transition from residential care to safe, nurturing, family-based care, including biological families, domestic adoption, kinship care, or foster care
8. Assist the Government of Uganda to Combat Child trafficking in persons in select high risk districts
9. Prevention and Prosecution of Trafficking in Persons and On-line Child Pornography in Uganda
10. Increase the national capacity to prosecute online child exploitation and protect child victims, with an emphasis on prosecuting the production of child pornography linked to trafficking
11. Work with traditional and religious leaders to reinforce CEFM messages to families and communities on delaying marriage and first pregnancy

Objective 2: STRONGER FAMILIES – Strengthen family care for children
Strategies

1. Establish Alternative Care Panels in all districts
2. Annually enumerate all institutionalized children and assess their care in relation to national standards
3. Prevent family separation and place institutionalized and street children into family-based care
4. Prevent unnecessary family separation and support permanent and protective family care for children outside of families
5. Strengthen linkages between child protection and social protection
6. Support programs that transform cultural and social norms to reduce violence against and exploitation and abuse of children
7. Partner with the Government of Uganda and local organizations to develop a new system of alternative care in Uganda, moving children out of orphanages and into family-based care.
8. Partner with the Government of Uganda to create The Alternative Childcare Department; equipped key personnel and social workers within the central and local government structure of the Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development and local partners with the necessary skills and tools to implement quality family-based services;
9. develop and implement a comprehensive deinstitutionalization plan with 20 local orphanage partners five per region to place children into family-based care settings through temporary foster care, foster-to-adopt, and reunification services. Those organizations will move toward providing alternative services supported by the project’s direction and training.

Objective 3: SAFER SCHOOLS – Create a safe learning environment that promotes learner retention
Strategies

1. Promote safe learning environments in primary schools through strategic and on-going engagement with stakeholders
2. Develop and implement National Quality Standards for institutional care facilities
3. Conduct annual assessments of childcare institutions, closing those that are seriously sub-standard
4. Work to reduce exploitation of and violence including bullying against children in schools, as well as violence and stigmatization of children of foreign descent and children with disabilities.
5. Reach primary schools and train school counsellors and teachers to promote activities related to the prevention of all forms of school violence, family violence, GBV, and child abuse.
6. Work with community protection networks;
7. Carry out trainings for parents, school administrators, parent/ teacher associations, and communities;
8. Engage the Ministry of Education and local governments to build their capacity to reduce violence in schools and protect children;
9. Carry out a campaign at the community level to increase awareness about school safety and security, family and GBV prevention, gender equality, child protection, and the importance of a safe, violence-free learning environment for all children.

Objective 4: BETTER ENFORCEMENT – Strengthen Uganda’s national child protection system to effectively prevent and respond to abuse, violence, exploitation and neglect against children
Strategies

1. Enact, review and enforce the implementation of existing and new relevant child protection laws, including through development of regulations, procedures and guidance
2. Improve access to coordinated and multi-sector services for victims and their families (health, justice, education, social services, etc.)
3. Organize a series of workshops with children and adolescents to strengthen youth self-protection and self-care practices to mitigate risks related to violence, trafficking, and other exploitation.
4. Carry out survival skills workshops for children and adolescents on topics such as self-esteem, hygiene, water and environmental care, conflict resolution, prevention of sexual abuse and exploitation, GBV prevention, strengthening family ties, and assertive communication.
5. Counter-Trafficking in Persons
6. Protecting Victims, Providing Services, and Preventing Human Trafficking in major hot spots in Uganda
7. Develop an anti-trafficking in persons communications strategy and awareness campaign;
8. create a national referral system;
9. improve prosecution of trafficking in persons cases
10. Work with the Government of Uganda and civil society organizations, to address and deter trafficking in persons, including cross-border, domestic, and institutional trafficking in persons.
11. Strengthen institutional structures and engage them on the issue of institutionalization of Ugandan children and the risk of trafficking from these institutions.
12. Create a task force that focuses on assisting children at risk of being victims or children who are already victims of exploitation and abuse

Objective 5: Promote GIRL EMPOWERMENT AND LEADERSHIP
Strategies

1. Improve the learning environment and community engagement for adolescent girls;
2. increase knowledge on reproductive health and issues such as female genital mutilation, sexual violence, early marriage, and pregnancy;
3. support gender equality and girls’ leadership;
4. use communication activities to encourage communities, families, and key local influencers to enrol girls in schools and prevent child marriage.
5. Work with the Ministry of Education and Sports to prepare teachers and school managers to address GBV in primary schools through classroom management, observation techniques, and supervision.
6. Teacher training in gender equity in schooling, positive female role models in rural areas, and the importance of educating girls.
7. Support social awareness campaigns and social behaviour change activities for families and communities on issues of early and forced marriages

Objective 6: PREVENT CHILDREN FROM GOING MISSING, HARM and provide their families and SURVIVORS Support
Strategies

1. Improve trafficking in persons survivors’ access to psychosocial and legal services and medical care in fifteen in North, Eastern and North-eastern Uganda.
2. Enrol trafficking in persons survivors in Village Savings and Loan Associations and literacy circles.
3. Conduct community-based, trauma-healing activities for trauma survivors and other community members, including alternative dispute resolution between trafficking in persons survivors and aggressors’ families
4. Provide services for trafficking in persons victims, including shelter, education, psychological services, and health care,
5. support five cities to strengthen systems and local organizations to protect children and adolescents and prevent trafficking in persons.
6. Organize five city networks of trained trafficking in persons youth leaders who will train individuals in their communities to identify and prevent trafficking in persons
7. Strengthen systems for comprehensive care of survivors of online sexual exploitation (OSEC) of children.
8. Help social workers and other stakeholders identify OSEC victims.
9. Support comprehensive service delivery for OSEC survivors with a focus on mental health care and legal services and increase shelter provisions for child victims of OSEC.
10. Support community-based behaviour change activities to address forced child begging in streets.
11. Organize a community based social mobilization with citizens, key stakeholders, and women and male leaders;
12. support SACCO activities;
13. map the street children that practice forced child-begging;
14. develop action plans, with input from community and religious leaders; and educated leaders on the basic concepts of child exploitation.