Protecting 650 Ugandan children from trafficking

The Sustainable Response Against Child Trafficking and unsafe Migration project in Uganda was implemented by Dwelling Places, collaboratively with Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), the Child and Family Protection Unit (CFPU) of Uganda police, Ministry of Gender Labour and Social Development (MGLSD), Napak District Local Government and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) through the umbrellas of Children at Risk Action Networks (CRANE) and Uganda Child Rights NGO Network (UCRNN).

Key Achievements

Some of the achievements include;

• 436 children (292 boys and 144 girls) were rescued from different forms of exploitation including child trafficking, street begging, sexual exploitation and child labour. 
• 81 children (32 girls and 49 boys) with different forms of disability including cerebral palsy, Epilepsy, microcephalus, hemiplegia, deafness, blindness, stroke, autism, learning disability among others have been supported to receive services including medical assessment, medicines, standing frames, mobile and onsite therapy based on the assessed needs.
• 893 children (521 boys and 241 girls) were supported to continue in school/ reintegrate back into mainstream education system at different levels of learning
• 56 youth (16 female and 40 male) received skill training through vocational and apprenticeship.
• 106 (102 boys and 4 girls) vulnerable children were referred to other partners for support.
• 241 vulnerable families were identified, trained and supported with startup inputs

Challenges

Some of the challenges faced include;

1. The insecurity and harsh weather conditions that lead to famine/ hunger in the Karamoja region have continued to be push factors for the children into trafficking. In 2021 and 2022, these cases were heightened, also precipitated by the C-19 pandemic and the after-effects like lengthened school closures, hence, there were increased numbers of children on the streets yet with limited resources to rescue, rehabilitate and reintegrate these children. The project continuously advocated with other development partners for the government to take action to combat these issues.
2. Because of the reasons in (a) above, there are increasingly cases of unwillingness by children in street situations to either be voluntarily rescued and rehabilitated or resettled. Dwelling Places continues to engage government agencies such as Kampala City Council Authority and the MoGLSD to legally evacuate the streets of the children and place them into life skills training centers, rehabilitation homes and their domestic homes and are monitored jointly by the CSOs and the local leaders.
3. Mobility/migration/nomadic nature of the Karamojong community makes home-based follow-up of both children and their caregivers complex.
4. Mindset change is still one of the biggest challenges in the region. Most community stakeholders including leaders are overly dependent and would prefer handouts instead of working to provide for their families and get out of vulnerable situations.
5. The effects of Covid-19 including prolonged closure of schools (20th March 2020 to end of 2021) affected the children's access to education which also increased their vulnerability to CTM.  This also led to increase of street connected children, sexual abuse and exploitation of children in general.

Testimonies

Here are some of the positive messages we received from the children we have supported;

Chosen* (14 years) - “I feel happy because l have been reintegrated back with my family ”

Nangiro* (17 years) - “The assistance I have received is of great help to me and my family because the standard of living has changed. I feel loved and now I have hope that in years to come I will have a better life.¨

Peter* (15 years) - “You helped me a lot. I am fine and settled at home now. Thank you for always counseling me.”

Thanks to your donation, we have been able to continue to provide much-needed support to children who are vulnerable to child trafficking in Uganda.