A section of child rights activists have tasked government to increase the annual budget for child protection from Shs6 billion to at least Shs14 billion.
Speaking at a dissemination workshop for the budget analysis report on Child Protection in Uganda in Kampala on Tuesday, the executive director of Africhild, Mr Timothy Opobo, said the limited funds were hindering implementation of programmes aimed at ensuring safety of children in the country.
“When you look at Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development budget, money allocated to youth and children affairs has not exceeded Shs6 billion in the last five financial years making it the least funded compared to other units like Youth Livelihood programme,” Mr Opobo said.
He said the country needs to deal with the rampant cases of child abuse, including sexual and physical abuse, child labour, trafficking and early marriages.
The 2022 police crime report indicates that defilement cases in the country have increased from 14,230 in 2020 to 14,570 in 2021.
The United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef) also indicates that about 700,000 girls were impregnated during the Covid-19 lockdown.
The Country Director of Child Fund, Mr Moses Otai, said child protection officers are unable to afford fuel to follow up and arrest child rights’ offenders as well as building rehabilitation centres at district level.
Speaking at the same function, the chairperson of Uganda Women Parliamentary Association (UWOPA), Ms Sarah Opendi, said child protection should be among the priorities that the executive should focus on.
“The biggest challenge the country has many priorities, such as health, education, road sector, fighting corruption among others, but Cabinet should also come out to show a political will to fund issues concerning children as one way of motivating Parliament,” Ms Opendi said.
Ms Opendi, who doubles as Tororo Woman MP, also stressed the need to fight corruption to ensure that resources meant for different programmes are not swindled.
She said children’s rights, including quality education, must be prioritised.
“Children need to be protected against violence so that their rights are not violated, they must go to school as enshrined in our Constitution,” she said.
The 2022 police crime report indicates that defilement cases in the country have increased from 14,230 in 2020 to 14,570 in 2021.
