2947th Meeting, 101st Session, Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
Human Rights Treaty Bodies
Date: 8 September 2026
Language: English
Transcript: https://transcripts.un.org/en/crc/2947
Transcripts available through this tool are created by using automatic speech recognition and are not official records nor official documents of the United Nations. Official records and official documents are available on the Official Document System of the United Nations.

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CRC · Chair [0:04]:

Good morning. I declare open the 2947th meeting of the 101st session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child. This is the second meeting dedicated to the continuation of the review of the combined third to fifth periodic reports under the Convention on the Rights of the Child of Uganda. I warmly welcome delegation this morning. Hope you had a nice evening and prepared yourself very well for our questions. So without further due, I will give you the floor, Madam Minister. But before I would like to just tell that we will have time until 12:45 today. After you will continue with your questions, I will again open the floor for my colleagues for the follow-up questions if they have the follow-up questions and after that we will have 15 minutes break so you can prepare yourself again and come back again with your answers on follow-up questions so please voice yours madam minister.


Uganda · Minister [2:02]:

Chairperson, members of the committee, good morning. We are back here this morning.

To give you responses to a number of issues and questions that were raised yesterday, and I will open the floor in response to one of the questions raised here.

On the implementation of the Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child ***********.

Uganda ratified the Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child in 2002 and reaffirms its commitment to preventing, criminalizing and responding to all forms of child sexual exploitation. The Government continues to strengthen its legal, policy and institutional frameworks in line with its obligations under the Protocol. The Government of Uganda has undertaken significant legislative reforms to align domestic law with the Optional Protocol. The Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act, 2009 criminalizes the sale of children child trafficking, recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring, and receipt of children for sexual exploitation. The Act provides stringent penalties, including life imprisonment, for aggravated child trafficking and establishes victim protection measures. The Children Act, as amended in 2016, further strengthens prohibitions against child sale, harmful employment and exploitation. It expands the definition of child abuse to include sexual exploitation, online grooming and trafficking, and mandates the state to ensure protection, rehabilitation, and reintegration of child victims. The Penal Code Act criminalizes defilement, procurement of minors for sexual acts, child prostitution, and child *********** and provides enhanced penalties for offenses involving children. The Computer Misuse Act 2011 addresses online child sexual exploitation, including the production, distribution, and possession of child sexual abuse material. It also supports collaboration with cybercrime units and internet service providers to detect and disrupt online exploitation. The National Child Policy 2020 recognizes sexual exploitation as a major child protection concern and mandates coordinated prevention, response, and monitoring across ministries, departments, and agencies. Uganda has strengthened institutional mechanisms for enforcement. The Child and Family Protection Units of the Uganda Police Force investigates cases of child sale, sexual exploitation, trafficking and online abuse, and provides child-friendly interviewing and case management. The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions operates a specialized anti-trafficking and sexual offences department responsible for prosecuting related cases and ensuring victim-friendly court processes. The Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control monitors cross-border movement to prevent trafficking and sale of children and collaborates with Interpol and regional bodies on transnational cases. The Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development leads national child protection coordination, oversees shelters and alternative care arrangements, and manages the National Child Helpline, which provides real-time reporting and referral for related cases. Uganda has also strengthened protection, assistance and rehabilitation services for child victims. Government-approved shelters in partnership with civil society organizations provide temporary safe accommodation, psychosocial support, medical care, legal assistance and family tracing and reintegration. Child-friendly justice procedures have been institutionalized, including confidentiality protections, trauma-informed interviewing, legal representation, and special court procedures to reduce secondary trauma. Social reintegration measures include counseling, long-term case management, education support, school reintegration, and skills training for older child victims. Uganda has implemented several prevention measures. Community awareness campaigns address child trafficking, sexual exploitation, online safety, and safe migration. Labor recruitment agencies are licensed and monitored, and stricter oversight of inter-country adoption processes has been introduced. Online safety initiatives include collaboration with internet service providers and cybercrime units to detect and remove child sexual abuse material, as well as school-based digital safety programs. Monitoring and reporting mechanisms have also been strengthened. Annual trafficking in persons reports document progress, case statistics, and enforcement outcomes. The district child protection committees monitor local implementation and coordinate responses. Despite the progress, Uganda still faces challenges, including limited resources for enforcement and victim support services, rising online sexual exploitation, and insufficient data. Let me invite Lucy to give responses to some of the issues that were raised in regard to access to justice.


Uganda [8:32]:

Thank you, Minister, Madam Chair and the committee. I will be handling the questions on access to justice, in terms of the specialised justice system that is in place. Issues around separation of children from adults, especially in detaining children in the same cells as adults. And lastly, the issue of the congestion and overcrowding in the remand homes. Uganda's programming on access to justice for children is anchored in a broad rights-based definition of access to justice. And it extends beyond the courtroom to encompass diversion, child-sensitive procedures, rehabilitation, and community reintegration. And this informs a three-tier architecture, right from the National Development Plan, which runs from 2025-26 to 2029 to 2030 as the national overarching framework, the governance and security program, which is one of the programs under the National Development Plan, It brings together 32 government agencies in a single planning and budgeting framework.

The access to justice.

Subprogramme strategic framework, which runs up to 2030, coordinates 17 institutions across the child's full justice journey. The Justice for Children Program spearheaded by the justice sector and initially supported by, wholly supported by the UNICEF and recently the EU for the refugee areas and the government of Uganda shifts the lens from juvenile justice to justice for all children as offenders, as victims, and as witnesses. Child justice responsibilities appear under all the five National Development Plan strategic objectives And this confirms that this is a whole of society development priority, not a narrow law and order mandate. In terms of the specialized systems for access to justice for children, the legal and institutional framework ranging from the Children's Act, which was recently amended, sets the age of criminal responsibility at 12. It mandates the family and children's courts. It prohibits co-detention with adults. and enshrines detention as a last resort. Article 34 of the Constitution of Uganda provides non-derogable protection against cruel treatment of children. The specialized courts and child-friendly architecture ranges from the family and children's courts, where hearings are conducted in camera. There's prohibition of media identification of children. and application of child-specific sentencing options.

We've got audio-visual.

Link facilities across eight High Court regions and two Magistrates' Courts, and these enable child victims and witnesses to testify without facing the perpetrators, reducing secondary victimization in sexual violence cases. Child-friendly interview rooms and dedicated juvenile holding facilities at the Child and Family Protection Units, as well as DPP offices, are spread out across the country. There's in-facility court sessions within the remand homes, as reported yesterday, and these include a dedicated magistrate at all the remand homes across the country, and this accelerates disposal of the minor cases against children. In terms of legal aid and child-sensitive case management, we highlight that in the 2023-24 reporting year, 1,754,000 children received legal aid in one year, and this was a 117 per cent increase from the previous year. The probation and social welfare officers prepare the social background reports on every child in conflict with the law, and these inform appropriate judicial decisions, diversion and reintegration planning. We have developed and prepared a handbook for prosecuting child-related cases through the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. The Inspector General of Police has been given powers under the law to develop diversion guidelines. These were prepared, and they provide the framework for child-sensitive protection across all the justice institutions. In terms of disability inclusiveness of the cases, we have the Judiciary Cases of Persons with Disability Rules that was prepared under the powers of the Chief Justice, and we have sign language interpretation.

In different regions of the court, as well as a braille version of the Children's Act.

In terms of separation of children from adults, the Children Act expressly prohibits co-detention with adults, and Uganda implements this through, one, sex segregated juvenile holding facilities that we reported yesterday are at Kampala, Iganga, Tororo, Mukono, Wakiso, Kitgum, Arua, and Entebbe, and these ensure separation from the point of arrest. We undertake age verification procedures and highlighting that in 2023-24, 1,192 children underwent formal age verification processes through the Justice for Children coordinators, the police, the DPP, and the probation officers. And the objective here is to ensure that this correct placement of juveniles and transfer of misplaced adults. All of the remand homes hold only children. The National Rehabilitation Center holds only sentenced children, and there's no commingling with adult prisoners. The Justice for Children program and other entities verify age, they monitor the age verification compliance, and it is a tracked indicator in the justice, law, and order sector performance reporting. Uganda acknowledges implementation gaps in police stations that do not have dedicated units. But systematic monitoring of separation compliance will be strengthened through the court electronic management system extension, which is planned for remand homes and the judiciary framework. In terms of decongesting the remand homes, we acknowledge that remand home congestion is a critical challenge. A multi-pronged response is being implemented and accelerated under the National Development Planning and the Access to Justice Program. One of the areas that initiative that this is being done is diversion as the primary decongestion tool. We would like to report that Uganda's national diversion rate is at 76%. and in the financial year 2023-24, 2,448 out of the 3,205 children who were assessed were successfully diverted from the formal proceedings through mediation, counselling, community service and restorative justice. The diversion guidelines operationalise these at the point of arrest. Diversion tools, including registers, referral books and feedback forms, are deployed nationally.

The local council courts, which are at the lowest.

Level of the subnational structure, handle petty offences at community level, preventing entry into the formal justice system. We also undertake non-custodial sentencing and resettlement. And in the year 2023-24, 879 custodial sentences as against 276 custodial sentences were reported in the JLO report. This ratio, a three to one ratio in favor of community-based outcomes. This represents a ratio of three to one. The constitution sentencing guidelines of the judiciary promotes rehabilitation for children. In 2023, 1,556 juveniles were resettled from detention facilities. The probation officers lead family engagement during the sentencing period as opposed to doing it at the completion, and this is being strengthened to eliminate post-order detention. In terms of infrastructure, There is renovation and construction going on to deconcentrate juvenile justice services to the lowest level of the country framework. A new remand home is currently being constructed in Moroto in the Karamoja area, which is ideally to address the absence of juvenile detention infrastructure in that area. We are undertaking renovation and expansion of Masindi Remand Home. Recently, the Parliament called for a 5 billion budgeting for the condemned facility renovations, and this support by the Uganda legislature is partly responsible for the increase in the budget of the Ministry of Gender by 20.7% to 9.1 billion in the year 2026 to 2027. On the gazetting of remand home regulations, we acknowledge that specific regulations governing remand homes have not yet been gazetted. That gap creates operational inconsistency in the facilities, but under the NDP4 and the administration of justice programme, the Government has committed to developing and gazetting those regulations within this period. That will establish binding minimum standards on education, health, recreation, staffing and the children's rights in detention, with an accountability framework for independent monitoring. In terms of digital case management, the electronic court case management system by the judiciary is being extended to all the remand homes. That has now been gazetted as grade 1 courts, and that will provide real-time tracking of every child's case, automated alerts at all order completion and a system-wide visibility preventing post-order detention. The full eCMIS integration across all the jailhouse institutions is a commitment under the 2025 to 2030 target. In conclusion, Uganda presents before this committee not with a claim of perfection, but with a credible account of a system in deliberate, structured transformation. One that acknowledges its challenges honestly and responds to them programmatically. The three areas addressed, the specialised systems for children, the separation of children from adults and the decongestion of remand homes, are not isolated operational problems requiring isolated fixes. They are interconnected dimensions of a single system challenge. How a low-income country with a young and rapidly growing population, with regional inequalities and a legacy of investment challenges in its justice infrastructure, builds a child justice system that is genuinely rights-based, not merely formally compliant. Uganda's response to that challenge is the whole of government, whole-of-society architecture in this submission. The NDP distributes responsibility for child justice outcomes across all the strategic objective areas. The governance and security programme brings the 32 agencies into a single planning budgeting framework. The access to justice subprogramme translates this architecture into operational reality through 17 institutions, four programmatic outcomes and the Justice for Children program that monitors and evaluates child-sensitive practice across the entire system. I thank you.


Uganda · Minister [21:00]:

May I invite Rogers to give a few more responses to some of the questions?


Uganda [21:09]:

Thank you. I want to respond to questions on alternative care. Questions on the social service workforce, yesterday we didn't have enough time to respond to them. And then the last on social protection programs. We asked about the data on the children and alternative care settings. We were able to attach a data sheet onto the list of responses that we submitted. to the committee, but I'll emphasize that we have currently 15,250 children under alternative care in Uganda, and these are being cared for and living in 363 approved children homes. These children homes are located in 67 district local governments out of the 137 that we have in Uganda. The National Alternative Care Framework 2025 is aligned to the UN guidelines on alternative care for children, which puts a lot of emphasis on family-based solutions. Our alternative care framework in Uganda has five major pillars. First is family strengthening and prevention of separation, where we cater, we provide programs and services to reduce vulnerability at household level and poverty. The other is gatekeeping before institutional placement, where we have established alternative care panels at the district and national level, and emphasized strict adherence to care orders as evidence of admission to all alternative care institutions. We have also established a continuum of care for alternative care in Uganda, which starts with first family reunification, kinship care, foster care, domestic adoption, and lastly, inter-country adoption. We emphasize reintegration and permanency planning for all children in institutional care, and closely monitor this through our Alternative Care Management Information System, using the Children First software. We have also established guidelines for closure of unapproved homes, and over the past five years, we have closed over 250 unapproved homes, throughout the country. We have also developed guidelines, or we are in the process of developing guidelines for supported independent living to enable transition of children from alternative or institutional care to living on their own. Under social protection, During the reporting period, we have had two programs that have ended or closed. First is the Nutri-Cash initiative, which was supported by the government of Sweden, and the Empowering Girls program, or GEG, which was supported by the government of Belgium. These programs served as landmark pilot models to test direct child-sensitive cash transfers before transitioning into broader national frameworks. The Nutri-Cash program operated the cash plus intervention that reached over 13,000 households across eight refugee hosting districts in West Nile. And it was delivering a cash transfer of $13 to $14, alongside a saving component of $4 to pregnant women and children under two to combat acute infant stunting. The Girls Empowering Girls program functioned as Uganda's first urban social protection program targeting school-aged children, reached 3,435 vulnerable adolescent girls in Kampala. It combined peer mentoring and training with direct cash transfers to ensure safe transitions into adulthood and reduce teenage pregnancy and child marriage. Currently, starting this financial year, the government of Uganda established, with development partners, the National Child Disability Assistance Program. aimed at families raising children below five years with severe functional impairments. US$4.3 million has been directly committed by Government of Uganda in the pilot phase, which will reach 7,000 parents and 37,634 households, most especially those that are multidimensionally poor. This year, we also launched two new social protection programs, and I will discuss those that are strictly targeting vulnerable children. The NUSAFo program, which is the Northern Uganda Social Action Fund, which is under phase four, targets vulnerable subsistence households with children in post-conflict areas in Northern Uganda. with a commitment of $250 million, backed by the World Bank and IDA. This is set to benefit 3.7 million citizens across nine subregions, West Nile, Acholi, Kalamoja, Lango, Teso, Busoga, Bukedde, Munyoro, via labor cash injections. And these same regions are the ones also with the highest levels of multidimensional child poverty. The Development Response to Displacement Impacts Project The second project, after the one ended last year, targeting host communities and refugee minors facing extreme local service strain, with a total budget of $180 million, integrated into infrastructure, which includes health facilities, schools, is being deployed across 15 frontline refugee hosting districts to fund child safe education and health access points. Annually, Office of the Prime Minister runs nutritional interventions targeting areas that are systemic in micronutrient distribution, infant feeding campaigns, and specialized clinical treatment across Karamoja and refugee host boundaries. We also have a national child labor eradication framework targeting children exploited in commercial agriculture, artisanal mining, and street economies. Uganda shillings 2 billion has been dedicated to enforce these interventions under the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, and they are focused on high-risk geographical areas experiencing critical primary school dropouts. Working with government partners, particularly UNICEF and UNHCR, we have the Integrated Refugee and Host Community Response Program. where we provide child protection, case management, and psychosocial tracking for refugees. And as I speak now, there are actively over 26,000 open protection files that are being worked on. Under the social service framework, I'm glad to mention to the committee that the Ministry of Gender, Government of Uganda, finalized the national strategy for strengthening the social service workforce alongside the operational framework for social care and support system. This established a unified institutional mechanism, shifting social service away from disjointed agency-specific manuals and systems towards more government-owned and controlled mechanisms for system strengthening. It has three particular areas. One is workforce improvement. The second is driving professionalization, and then the third is legislative and fiscal adoption. What has been accomplished is the institutionalization framework that I've mentioned. What is underway is the review of the reimbursement structure of the social service workforce, starting with the child protection cadres, the primary teachers, secondary arts teachers, and others, and specialized scientists. And lastly, and most importantly, is the adoption of the legislation to recognize the social service workforce or social council, to recognize social workers as a professional entity within government of Uganda. We are working on this with several UN agencies and other development partners. This final stage will require establishing a software framework, which will push this into full progression. And we kindly seek more technical guidance from development partners to ensure that our village level para-social workers are permanently absorbed into domestic local government structures. to enable more penetrated service delivery to tackle issues concerning child protection at local government level. Thank you.


Uganda · Minister [31:00]:

Anne, may I invite you to give responses to water and sanitation?


Uganda [31:14]:

On questions regarding water and sanitation, The government of Uganda reaffirms its commitment to ensuring universal access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene for all children as a cornerstone of national development, public health, and education attainment. Water and sanitation are not simply an infrastructure concern. It is a child protection issue, a gender equality issue, and a social justice issue. Government efforts remain focused on reducing the distance to safe water sources, expanding climate-resilient WASH infrastructure, strengthening school WASH systems, and mobilizing domestic and partner financing to achieve universal access by 2040. The government aims to achieve this through expansion of solar-powered water systems in schools and communities, construction of gender-segregated disability-accessible sanitation facilities, strengthening of school health clubs and hygiene education, national promotion of handwashing as a daily practice, and increased political commitment through the Presidential Dialogue on WASH. Under the National Resources, Environment, and Climate Change Land and Water Management Program, Both the National Development Plan 3 and the National Development Plan 4 prioritize expanding access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene services, as well as the sustainable management of water resources. Chair, significant progress has been made in expanding access to WASH services and facilities. According to the National Census Report 2024, 81.1% of households now have access to improved drinking water sources. Under Uganda's 2024 national housing and population census reveals that 48% of children live in households with access to safe, clean water within one kilometer. Since 2021-2022, the WASH sector budget has steadily increased with currently standing at 1.33 trillion allocated in 2025-2026, up from 981 billion in 2024-2025. The government, under the Water and Energy Sector Development Plan 2020-2025, has allocated over 200 million US dollars to water infrastructure. Access to clean water rose from 67% in 2020 to 72% in 2024, meaning that that 3.5 million additional people, including 2 million in rural areas, through 1,200 new boreholes and 300 piped water systems. The National Water and Sewage Corporation extended piped water to 150 rural subcounties, that's about 500,000 households, and introduced solar-powered systems in 50 remote communities, while community water management committees trained in 100 districts have kept 80% of the new facilities functional. Other initiatives to improve access to water and sanitation services for all children in Uganda include projects such as the Integrated Water Management and Development Project and the strategic towns water supply and sanitation project, which expands safe water, sanitation facilities, and hygiene services in schools, health centers, and rural communities. While this marks progress in expanding improved water sources, access remains uneven across regions, with children in rural and semi-arid areas facing the greatest barriers. Nevertheless, These achievements demonstrate that we as a government prioritize WASH, we advance child protection, gender equality, and community resilience. I thank you, Chair.


Uganda · Minister [35:44]:

Ivan.


Uganda [35:48]:

Thank you, Honorable Minister, Chair, and members of the committee. I will now address the question on climate change. Honourable Chair, the National Climate Change Act, Cap 182, mandates rights-based considerations in climate strategies and guarantees participation of women, children, persons with disabilities and local communities, complemented by the National Climate Change Policy 2022. This also The National Disaster Preparedness and Management Policy also complements those. Uganda is implementing its nationally determined contribution, targeting a 22% emissions reduction by 2030, with solar energy reaching 50,000 rural households, 2.5 million trees planted across 20 districts, 50 community-based disaster risk reduction committees, and climate education reaching 100,000 children in 200 schools. All this is done to ensure that vulnerable groups are also active agents rather than mere beneficiaries of climate resilience. Madam Chair, I hand it back to you. Honorable Minister, hand back to you. Thank you.


Uganda [37:18]:

Thank you. Honourable Minister and Madam Chair, I will now handle issues relating to children with disabilities. Uganda has a legal framework specifically protecting children with disabilities. The Persons with Disabilities Act, CAP 115, provides that a child with a disability enjoys all rights under the Children Act on an equal basis with other children and should not be separated from their family except in accordance with the law and the child's best interests. The Act also places obligations on educational institutions to provide inclusive education, make structural adjustments for accessibility and for government-aided institutions, provide sign language services, appropriate learning materials and assistive devices. It also requires schools to facilitate participation in sports and co-curricular activities. Uganda has made progress in enrolling learners with disabilities within the education system, including through inclusive education. However, we acknowledge that enrolment does not necessarily mean effective inclusion. and we continue to face challenges relating to accessibility of schools, assistive devices, specialized learning materials, trained personnel, and reasonable accommodation. The government is therefore focusing not only on getting children with disabilities into school, but also on ensuring retention, participation, and completion. Government is working to improve disability-friendly infrastructure and the provision of appropriate learning materials and assistive devices. Government is also strengthening early identification of development difficulties and disabilities. In collaboration with partners, Uganda has been assessing how developmental screening can be integrated into existing child health services so that children can be identified earlier and referred for appropriate intervention. Uganda also recognizes that disability can impose significant additional costs on families, including costs of transport, healthcare, assistive devices, and education. A significant recent development is the approval of the 15.6 billion in the financial year 2026-2027 national budget for the National Child Disability Assistance Program. The program is intended to provide predictable, predictable support to families caring for children with severe disabilities. This represents an important step towards strengthening social protection for children with disabilities and their families. Uganda recognizes that legal protection alone is not enough. The government is therefore working with communities, schools, health services, organizations of persons with disabilities and development partners to strengthen awareness Early identification, referral and inclusion. The legal position is that disability is not in itself enough. The legal position is that disability is not in itself a basis for separating child from his or her family. The Persons with Disabilities Act expressly protects the child's right to know and be cared for by their parents and/or guardian. Any separation must be in accordance with the law and the best interest of the child. In respect to inclusive education versus special schools, Uganda's legal framework promotes inclusive education. At the same time, we recognize that specialized services and specialized institutions continue to play a role for children with particular support needs. The objective is to ensure that specialized support complements inclusion rather than becoming a basis for unnecessary segregation. I beg to submit.

I will be answering questions in respect to measures to prevent and respond to domestic violence issues, neglect and abuse of children, and the question in respect to child marriages, customary practices and registration of the said marriages. Uganda addresses domestic violence, neglect and abuse of children through a multi-sectoral approach combining a strengthened legal framework prevention and community-based interventions, accessible reporting mechanisms, child-sensitive investigation and prosecution, and coordinated protection, medical and psychosocial.

Plus legal support services.

The implementation of the said laws in respect to protection of the children is guided by the National Plan of Action on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence and violence against children of 2019 to 2030. Prevention at the family and community level is through parenting and behavior change programs. These are in respect to positive discipline parenting, national awareness programs, and social behavior change interventions that engage cultural and religious leaders, communities, parents, and the children. In 2025, a mass media and youth-led campaign reached approximately 26.7 million people nationwide on preventing sexual exploitation and abuse, child marriage, teenage pregnancy, and the U-Report platform engaged more than 151,000 users. The government also launched the national parenting standards and a digital parenting hub for parents and caregivers. Through the subcounty policing model of the Uganda Police Force, policing has been brought to the lowest administrative levels to improve community engagement, local intelligence, rapid response, and access to services, which has been implemented in roughly 72% of the policing regions in 2025, with the remaining being at an advanced stage. In 2025, the Uganda police engaged over 4,653 participants in crime-prone areas through community policing and sensitization. Then, socioeconomic vulnerability is being dealt with through social protection and livelihood programs, like the social assistance grant for empowerment, the Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Programme, the Youth Livelihood Programme and the Parish Development Model. Reporting and referral of issues of domestic violence has mainly been through the SAUTI 116 child helpline, a free nationwide 24-hour service providing an accessible entry point for reporting abuse, neglect, exploitation, together with counselling, referral and case management.

This is complemented by the police child.

And family protection units, district action centres and district child protection committees, probation and social welfare officers and community development officers, health facilities, schools, teachers, one-stop centres and violence toll-free reporting mechanisms. The child protection case management system has also been expanded to more than 80 districts. including refugee hosting areas, strengthening identification, referral follow-up, case management. In respect to investigations and prosecution of the complaints on domestic violence, the Uganda police investigates these offenses, referring cases for prosecution where the evidentiary threshold is met. Investigative capacity has been strengthened through the specialized sexual and gender-based violence training the training on domestic violence, improved forensic services, and digitalization. The police forensic DNA laboratory and specialized crimes in evidence vans have improved evidence collection since 2020. The Uganda police in 2025 recorded 12,361 cases of domestic violence in 2025, compared to the 14,073 cases in 2024, representing a 12.2% reduction. Of the persons that were recorded as victims of domestic violence in 2025, 4,116 were adult males, 7,520 were females, 489 were male juveniles, and 236 were female juveniles. This represents 722 juvenile victims recorded during the year. In respect to child-sensitive investigation and justice, Measures to enable children to participate in investigations and proceedings without unnecessary trauma or secondary victimisation have been put into place, including child-friendly spaces, child-safe interview rooms, audio-visual link facilities, witness preparation, anatomically detailed dolls for interviewing child victims of sexual offences, witness protection, victim empowerment measures, and assistance with transport, food, and accommodation for vulnerable witnesses. In respect to protection, referral, and case management, children identified as at risk are referred to the probation and social welfare officers, district child protection committees, the district action centers, and health facilities. with the 116 serving as the key entry point. Child well-being communities and committees bringing together health, education, justice, social welfare actors have established over 116 points in 146 districts. Uganda is also offering free medical examination for survivors of violence through our police surgeons, and clinical officers. Children homes have also been established nationwide, offering integral legal, medical, and psychosocial services. In 2025, over 589 unaccompanied and separated children received alternative care services, including family reunification. In respect to schools, refugee settings and online safety, the Government operationalised the Safe Schools Framework and a revised Education Response Plan with enrolment campaigns following re-entry or reopening of schools in January 2022. In refugee hosting areas, child protection working groups and the wider refugee response framework coordinate case management and social protection to address child labor, exploitation, family vulnerability, and domestic violence. Priorities going forward, as per the government of Uganda, is strengthening the SAUTI 116 decentralizing protection structures, community prevention, professional social work, case management, and child-friendly justice infrastructure. I'm going to proceed to the next question in respect to child marriage, customary practices, and registration. The Constitution of the Republic of Uganda sets the age of 18 as the minimum age of marriage for both men and women. Under Article 2 of the Constitution, any law or custom that is inconsistent with the Constitution is void to the extent of that unconstitutionality. There is no legal exception permitting child marriage on customary, religious, or other grounds, and any custom purporting to allow a marriage below 18 is unconstitutional and cannot prevail. In the constitutional petition case of Aboneka Michael and Kyria Martins versus the Attorney General, the Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional the provisions of the Customary Marriage Registration Act, the Marriage and Divorce of Mohammedans Act, and the Hindu Marriage and Divorce Act that permitted girls aged between 16 17 to get married. And the court directed that those provisions must be construed consistently with Article 31 of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, requiring both parties to be 18 or older in respect to getting married. Any registrations by NIRA must be in respect to parties that have both attained the age of 18. The government is also strengthening awareness among communities, marriage registrars, local communities, religious and customary leaders regarding the constitutional minimum age, recognizing that effective implementation requires administrative and community level enforcement in addition to legislation. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Thank you, Chair. I will address first the question on drug and substance abuse and how we regulate drug pandemic in the country. Firstly, there is a public health concern regarding substance and alcohol abuse among children and adolescents, though we do not regard it as a drug pandemic. Regulating the drug and substance abuse among children in Uganda is addressed through a multi-pronged approach combining national legislation, community interventions, and school efforts, and mental health support. On the legal and regulatory frameworks, Uganda uses a combination of penal laws and child welfare acts to curb drug supply and protect minors. These include the drug, the narcotic drug and psychotropic substance control act, which penalizes anyone caught supplying or administering illicit substances to others. We also have the Children's Act amended under section 94, exposing a child to harmful, illicit, or psychotropic substances is treated as a prosecutable crime. And we also have the Liquor Act, which enforces age restrictions, making it strictly illegal to sell alcohol or to anyone under the age of 18. Secondly, also they have the comprehensive school-based interventions. Here, the Ministry of Education and Sports enforces a policy across all learning institutions to maintain substance-free environment and limit students' dependency on drugs and alcohol. This includes substance-free campuses. Schools are mandated to completely be free of illicit drugs. We also have teacher training integration, which incorporates protective policies directly into teacher training and multi-sectoral coordination, where the Ministry of Education and Sports works very closely with the Ministry of Health. As far as the training is concerned, the Ministry of Education has developed a policy handbook. This was in September 2010. which highlights regulations governing teacher training and management to, among other things, address the drug challenges. The approach encourages alternative engagement activities, such as participation in extracurricular activities like sports, arts, and music, as a positive distraction, providing students with safe spaces, less academic stress, and reducing the allure of peer pressure. Thirdly, the integrating mental health and medical care, the National Referral Hospital in Butabika is also actively tackling juvenile substance abuse with specialized clinical care, school outreach, and collaborative public awareness campaigns. On the question on alarming suicide rates in Bidibidi settlement, which is one of the largest refugee settlements we have, what kind of psychological support are in place, access to health facilities, which are difficult to address. In responding to this question, Chair, I just want to give it a bit of context. And as we stated yesterday, Uganda continues to fulfill its international obligation in responsibility and burden sharing as far as refugees are concerned. Uganda, as was mentioned, we host the largest number of refugees on the continent of Africa, which is over 2 million. And our borders remain open. And as we speak, the refugee numbers continue rising. Regrettably, international support continues to decline. Bidi Bidi, which was referred to, is the second largest of the 13 refugee settlements we have in Uganda, with approximately 210,000 refugees. Refugees in Bidi Bidi, like all the settlements in Uganda, do not live in camps. In the settlements, they are provided with land. They build a home. They can work, access social services like any member of the Ugandan society. However, international support for Uganda's refugee response has collapsed, if I may say so, falling from the millions of dollars to a fraction of what was required to even sustain basic services. Declining international support has put a strain on our national refugee response, and this is how it has done that. First, on food ration cuts, funding shortfalls have forced agencies like the World Food Program to drastically slash food rations, leaving a majority of refugee households severely food insecure. Secondly, basic services have been strained. Acute deficits have affected health care, water access, and sanitation, causing spikes in malnutrition and forcing children out of school in refugee settlements. Thirdly, environmental and land pressures. Rapidly growing populations have exhausted available land that has been provided for subsistence farming, aggravating land scarcity and intensifying local resource competition. Fourthly, tensions within host communities. Declining aid and support that fails to benefit surrounding local communities risk eroding the historical goodwill and hospitality of communities. And fifthly, the total cut down on support has impacted on durable solutions. Families that expect to be reintegrated with their families outside Uganda continue to be frustrated, and some of this is vented in several ways. Therefore, severe resource shortages, sustained high numbers of arrivals, and a prolonged failure of international responsibility sharing has trickled down and frustrating refugees. Would anyone be surprised that refugees resort to extreme measures? It's important that together we address the root cause of the problem. As far as psychological support is concerned, nonetheless, Counseling and therapy is provided where government of Uganda is working with key international and local actors such as UNHCR. Second, we also provide community-based support, which involves local volunteers and health workers. Our message, Chair, the international community needs to do more to close the funding gap and expand resettlement programs. Partners should provide direct, flexible funding, support refugees and host communities. Thank you.


Uganda · Minister [58:20]:

May I invite UN to give responses to questions raised on housing and homelessness?


Uganda [58:34]:

With regard to questions on housing and homelessness, the government of Uganda reiterates its unwavering commitment to safeguarding the rights, dignity, and well-being of all children in accordance with the Constitution, the Children's Act as amended, and Uganda's obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. Uganda recognizes that adequate housing and protection from homelessness are essential components of a child's right to survival, development, and participation. Ensuring that every child grows up in a safe, stable, and nurturing environment remains a national priority. The government of Uganda has established legal, policy, and pragmatic measures to safeguard children's rights to adequate housing, security of tenure, and protection from forced evictions. These measures are implemented through national legislation, child protection systems, land governance frameworks, and emergency response mechanisms. The Uganda's National Housing Policy 2016 is the country's primary framework for ensuring access to adequate, safe, and affordable housing for all Ugandans. Grounded in constitutional commitments to decent shelter, the policy outlines the national housing deficit, key challenges, and the strategic interventions to guide government, private sector, and community action. The National Land Policy 2013 and the Land Act promote tenure, security, and require consultation, compensation, and resettlement before lawful eviction. Uganda's eviction and resettlement guidelines include child-specific protections. For children displaced by eviction, conflict, or disaster, compensation, temporary shelters, foster care, and kinship care options are provided. The Government has taken significant steps to strengthen child protection systems and reduce vulnerability to homelessness. Community-based child protection structures have been expanded to identify and support children at risk of family separation or street-connected living. The Government continues to work with local authorities and civil society to rehabilitate and reintegrate street-connected children, prioritizing family-based care over institutionalization. Uganda is scaling up social protection programs, including SAGE, and livelihood support initiatives to reduce household vulnerability and prevent child homelessness. Collaboration with development partners has strengthened alternative care frameworks, including foster care, kinship care, ensuring that children without parental care receive protection in family-like settings. Uganda acknowledges that urbanization, poverty, climate shocks, and family breakdown continue to place pressure on vulnerable households. The Ministry of Gender estimates that about 15,000 to 20,000 children are living or working on streets in major urban centers, with Kampala accounting for the largest share. The government of Uganda, through the Kampala City Authority, is currently undertaking slum upgrading programs to improve housing conditions for families with children. Uganda remains steadfast in its commitment to ensuring that no child is left without shelter, protection, or care. The government will continue working with all partners to uphold children's rights, strengthen family resilience, and build a society where every child grows up in safety and dignity. I thank you, Chair.


Uganda · Minister [1:02:30]:

Ivan, you can respond to questions in regard to the access to internet.


Uganda [1:02:38]:

Thank you, Honorable Minister, Chairperson, and distinguished members of the committee. Uganda recognizes that access to the internet increasingly shapes a child's education, participation, access to information, and future opportunities. Our responsibility is therefore not simply to place a signal near a community, it is to ensure that every child can use a reliable, affordable, useful, and safe connection. Uganda's communication sector is growing. By June 2026, the country had 49 million active mobile subscriptions 19.7 million active mobile internet subscriptions, approximately 20.5 million smartphones, and 286,000 fixed internet subscriptions. Smartphone ownership was estimated at 55.9% in urban areas and 26.5% in rural areas. Nearly three-quarters of non Users identified the cost of internet as a major barrier and 40.1% of households without internet cited equipment cost. I'm very happy to mention that electricity access among rural institutions stood at 58.5% compared with 98.4% among urban institutions. Government response through the Uganda Communications Commission is built around six actions. First, we will connect schools and other child-serving institutions as community anchors. Second, we will use coverage obligations, universal service financing, infrastructure sharing, renewable energy, and appropriate satellite solutions to close last-mile gaps. Third, we will lower the cost of devices and data. Fourth, we will build the skills of children, teachers, and caregivers, and expand relevant local language and accessible content. Fifth, we will integrate child online protection and privacy into every program. Finally, we will publish disaggregated results and ask children themselves whether the services are working. Our commitment is that no child's location, poverty, gender, disability or displacement status should decide whether that child can learn, communicate and participate in the digital world. I thank you.


Uganda · Minister [1:05:13]:

In response to the questions that were raised regarding child labour, Uganda acknowledges that child labour remains a very significant challenge and is strengthening both The evidence based on the national response, the latest national representative estimate of child labor remains the 2021 Uganda National Labor Force Survey, which estimated that approximately 39.5% of children aged 5 to 17 years, that's equivalent to about 6.2 million children, were engaged in child labor. The prevalence was particularly high among children aged 5 to 11 years, but government has since strengthened the national labor market information architecture through the 2025 labor market survey, which provides more frequent labor market statistics and through the development of the labor market information system. The Uganda Bureau of Statistics also has commenced implementation of the 2026-2027 Uganda National Household Survey, which provides an additional opportunity to generate updated information on children's work and related social economic determinants. At the community level, government working with development partners has strengthened child labour monitoring and remediation through the child wellbeing committees the labor officers, the probation and social welfare structures, and trained para-social workers. In Kalungu District, for example, a strengthened monitoring system identified 611 cases of child labor since July 2024 and supported 501 children to return to education and vocational training. Government has also strengthened financing for elimination of child labor, including a dedicated 5 billion Uganda shilling allocation in the financial year 2025-2026, in addition to resources allocated to labor inspection, child protection, social protection and education, and complementary support from the development partners. Uganda's third Decent Work Country Programme 2024-2025, spanning through to 2029-2030, and NDP4, that's the National Development Plan, provide the broader framework for sustaining these interventions beyond the period of the second National Action Plan for the Elimination of Child Labour. Maybe notably also on issues of budget, Uganda's transition to program-based budgeting shows a marginal increase in the combined share of social sectors from 12.8% to 13.9% over the past four fiscal years. However, low domestic revenue generation, that is 13.7% of the GDP and severe aid volatility constrain actual funding. In education particularly, the budget rose slightly to 7% of the national budget, remaining far below the 20% international benchmark. And in health, projected at a low 6.3% budget, failing to meet the 15% Abuja Declaration commitment. Social protection, it still remains underfunded, staying consistently low, below the 1% of the total budget. But to stem brain drain and address severe pay disparities, the government expanded its civil service wage bill by 1.09 trillion Uganda shillings. And primary teachers, that's the entry level education assistance, grade three, saw an uplift from 500,000 Uganda shillings 700,000 Uganda shillings per month and secondary Arts teachers administrators uh monthly salaries for Arts education officers rose to 2 million Uganda shillings and the head teachers to 1.5 million Uganda shillings narrowing the pay Gap with science cers Specialized scientists, senior scientific and clinical health specialists received substantial structural increase reaching up to 12.8 million Uganda shillings. And for social protection cadres, left largely marginalized with minimal baseline structural adjustments. And if I may respond briefly to the concern and issues that were raised in line with HIV, the vertical transmission of HIV. Uganda recognizes the protection of children from HIV and AIDS as both a public health obligation and a child rights issue. And therefore, the national response seeks not only to prevent children from acquiring HIV, but also to ensure that children that are living with HIV are diagnosed early, they receive effective treatment, survive and thrive, and are protected also from stigma, discrimination, violence, and social economic consequences of the HIV. If I may draw your attention to the joint United Nations program on HIV/AIDS set targets of 95 to 95 to 95 with the aim that 95% of all those living with HIV should know their status, and 95% of those that are diagnosed with HIV infection should also initiate and retain treatment, and that 95% on treatment should be virally suppressed by 2025. I am happy to report that by end of 2022, Uganda had achieved the first two targets. That's the HIV status and the antiretroviral treatment initiation, and Uganda is at the verge of reaching the third target, but currently it's at 92.2%. And notably also, to let you know that there are policy guidelines in place, and specifically The new strategic plan 2025-2026 to 2029-2030 takes this further through 12 interconnected results, including HIV prevention, testing and diagnostics, treatment and care, social protection and community systems. Some of the measures that have been put in place notably is, this year in April, Uganda launched what we call CHWs, that is Community Health Extension Workers. Their role is to raise awareness and facilitate referrals for HIV positive mothers and infants and extend outreaches in the community such that testing one is made available to all, even in hard to reach areas, and this was launched this year in 2024, but the enrollment is ongoing to ensure that there's a countrywide coverage of that. In addition, also critical medications has been brought closer to the people, especially the ARVs, because you find that most times some people shy or stay away from, they don't want to even be seen to be getting these medications, and now there are gazetted specific points where someone can walk in and privately get your medication. You don't have to be in a hospital setting where there's a lot of stigma and all that, because then our plan to reduce the vertical transmission, first, there's reducing that during pregnancy, before pregnancy, during pregnancy, and at birth, even after birth when someone is going through breastfeeding. Because during, even the health workers, we encourage every every pregnant mother to undergo antenatal care. There is a plan that is ongoing and our health workers are trained. The midwives are also trained to ensure that there is health education given to all these mothers during antenatal care and also encourage them to do delivery in health facilities to also reduce the risk of having that transmission to their children at birth. But notably, maybe in conclusion also, to just let you know the statistics, Uganda has also registered progress. Children living with HIV, the number reduced from 146,891 in 2010 2010 to now 70,985 in 2025. The new infections among children declined from 19,755 to 4,442. That's approximately 78% reduction. And AIDS-related deaths among children reduced from 14,271 to 2,918. That is approximately 80% reduction.

And children also living with HIV who?

Their status, and now it's at 70.7 percent in 2025. These results demonstrate that Uganda's policies and programs are having an impact, but they also define the remaining agenda. Allow me to end here in the interest of our time as we take on more from you. Thank you.


CRC · Chair [1:14:39]:

Thank you very much, Honorable Minister, distinguished members of the delegation, for your answers and qualifications. I'd like to open the floor for the follow-up questions and first I have Miss Juliana and Mr. Jaffe, Mr. Kerspleeg, Mr. Lumina, Madam Zaina Boumoussa, Madam Janna Siewert, Madam Al-Barwani, Madam Ahou.


CRC · Committee member [1:15:13]:

Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you also, delegation. It's the first time I welcome you and good morning. I thank you for the responses that you have given, because most of my additional questions were also responded to this morning for children out of a family environment. I have just two or three concerns left. One of my questions was whether you have a standards authority that regulates the institutions, the homes. You responded to that and said that many homes have been closed since they were not well adapted. Once these homes are closed now, what is being done so that the children that are returned back to their own homes do not face the same problems why they were moved out in the first place? We understand that there could have been various reasons, and these children were actually moved out and put into institutions, so what is being done now to where are they going? Are they going back to their own home? How are they helped? We understand that they could not also afford any school fees. So how does the government help them? Because I believe that the secondary education that also involves school fees and what support is also given to these children due to the fact that they now have, most of them could have an emotional trauma because they have been in institutions for so long. My other question was regarding to fostering. How are foster carers vetted and regulated, and are they trained regularly to be foster carers? My last question, well, the one before the last, is regarding care plans. Are they reviewed? By whom are they reviewed? Are they reviewed by the same persons that do them, or by independent persons or bodies, and how often? My last question concerns the language barrier of refugees. I do understand that the refugees have the right to education, rightly so, in your country, and they're also put in the same classroom with other children. But what happens is these refugees could possibly speak French or Arabic and have a language barrier, since I understand that English is used in your schools, from what I read. So my concern is about the language barrier so that these children could have the full right of education. Thank you so much. Thank you.


CRC · Chair [1:18:04]:

Thank you. I will take the country task force first. So Mr. Benoit Van Kierspeuk.


CRC · Committee member [1:18:16]:

Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you for the delegation and all the answer provided so far. Just to flag a few questions that I had that haven't been addressed yet, to make sure that you still have them in mind. All the questions concerning the POSA and the effect on children's rights to freedom of speech and on human rights and NGO advocacy activities. Discrimination in line with the Anti-Homosexuality Act, including on sex education program and increased violence. The increasing of the minimum age of criminal responsibility, children removed from the street who disappear. You have addressed globally the children in street situation, but not the ones who disappeared. And trying civilian children by military court, reintegration of children involved in armed conflict, those are questions that remain pending. I would like to add also on institution. My colleague, Juliana, just addressed to some extent this issue, but in your report, you mentioned 800 institution. And in the answer of the list of issues, you mentioned 363, and not all of them are fully recognized. So what happens for the institution that are working outside of the legal control of the government? There is apparently a lack of control. Are they clear regulation telling those institution what they have to do and what are the condition to intervene? What about public financing? Is there a budget line for those institution? Children in prison with the mother, the legislation says that they can stay with the mother until they reach 18 months, but the conditions are dire. And how to prevent that children are punished because of the mother offenses that she committed. And in fact, it seems that they remain in the prison for a longer time. Privatization of education. Obviously, many schools are private schools, 39% of primary schools, 66% of secondary schools. They are private actors. They don't receive financing. What are the plans to ensure free pre-primary, primary primary, secondary education and ensure that all those schools receive a financing and a control by the state? And final question is, are there any plans to ratify the OPIC, Optional Protocol on Individual Complaint?

Thank you.


CRC · Chair [1:21:12]:

Thank you. Mr. Lumina.


CRC · Committee member [1:21:19]:

Chair, and thank you to the delegation for your responses. It's very clear to me that the political will is there. And thank you, too, for the information concerning budgetary allocations. Now, I think for us, one of the key things is not only to get information about actual amounts or percentages of the national budget that are allocated to specific sectors, but also to assess to what extent there are measurable improvements in children's rights arising or linked to those allocations. And so I have a question, and specific questions arising under Article 4 of the Convention, which includes, amongst other things, the budgetary obligation. And so First, could you please explain how you ensure that resources that are allocated to children are not only identifiable and adequate, but actually released, efficiently spent, and translated into measurable improvements in children's rights? But more particularly, do you have a system for identifying and tracking all budget allocations and actual expenditure benefiting children across sectors at both central and local government levels? And secondly, how do you assess whether expenditure on children is achieving the intended child rights outcomes and providing value for money? And could you please provide an example where such an assessment led or resulted in a reallocation or redesign of a program? Third, what are the execution rates for major child-related programs, particularly in education, health, social protection, and child protection? And what measures are taken in circumstances where funds are released late, they remain unspent, or do not reach frontline services? In regard to procurement, I'm wondering whether you could share information about any safeguards that you have that ensure that procurement affecting children, including medicines, textbooks, assistive devices, and school health infrastructure, is competitive, transparent, timely, and delivers the required quality and value for money. And finally, thank you for your response on program-based budgeting. But the question here is how do you link allocations and actual expenditure to measurable improvements in outcomes such as child poverty, learning, nutrition, protection from violence, and access to social services? Thank you.


CRC · Chair [1:24:21]:

Thank you, Mr. Lumina. Mr. Benyam Mesmu, please.


CRC · Committee member [1:24:27]:

Good morning. Thank you very much for the feedback provided this morning. I'm just going to do Thank you also particularly on the HIV/AIDS related issues. You'll recall yesterday I had raised questions around vaccination and vaccination coverage and the zero dose and so forth. Maybe on that note, let me mention a quick point on the Ebola outbreak. First, congratulations that you've had 42 days consecutively without a case, which declared the end. But of course, the effect of that is still there, even though the numbers are fairly low, 20 cases and two deaths. It would be useful if you could tell us what the impact has been, for example, from an education point of view, from those who have lost their parents, and from a mental health point of view. You are on the ground, so you would know much more. It would be appreciated if you could shed some light on that.


CRC · Chair [1:25:29]:

Thank you, Mr. Mesmore. Dear colleagues, I have seven speakers on the list, so I would like to ask you to be as brief as possible. The first speaker is Mr. Jaffe.


CRC · Committee member [1:25:47]:

Of course, Chair. Welcome to the delegation. I will be brief out of solidarity with those coming afterwards.

Just one question.

You described a whole array of protection services, and you highlighted 116. My question has to do with how much public awareness is going on regarding 116, and how much integration into school curricula or information that service is receiving. Thank you, Chair.


CRC · Chair [1:26:16]:

Thank you, Mr. Jaffe. Madame Zaina Bou-Taleb Moussa, please.


CRC · Committee member [1:26:26]:

Thank you.

I'll try to be brief, Madam Chair. I'd like really to thank the delegation for this very informative round of answers. A great deal of information we've received from you, from the delegation. And I see that there's true political will to protect the rights of children in your country. Regarding the committee, there's a great deal of information that we've got, but of course we want tangible impacts. How this actually translates into affecting children themselves, that's so important. That's why we ask for figures as well, you know, so you can tell us This is what's been done. This is quantified, not so much more general answers. And I think that's extremely important. If not, it's difficult for us to really get a complete answer if we don't have the tangible figures and statistics sometimes. I know there have been some answers to some partial answers. I asked a question the other day As to whether girls who are victims of rape, it is very important that there is some kind of proper health care for them in hospitals. What about emergency contraception? Is that easy to come by? Do they have access to safe abortion? That was one of my questions yesterday as well. Do you have any tangible figures in that regard? That's one question, not a very straightforward question. You've talked about children who've been deprived of their liberty, reinsertion, rehabilitation programs, but can you give us a tangible example? What's going to happen if somebody is a child in conflict with the law, and perhaps they have to go back to their family, what happens to them? How are we ensuring in your country that they're not stigmatized after this? Thank you.


CRC · Chair [1:28:41]:

Thank you, Madam Moussa. Madam Marianna Jenasiwicz.


CRC · Committee member [1:28:50]:

Delegation for the answers provided. I'm still waiting the clarification about the birth registration of children under five. And just one more question for clarification about the meaningful participation.

I want to understand how many districts have the children's reference groups. And could you give a concrete example where children's view resulted in a change to a law, to a policy, to services, or something else?

Thank you very much.


CRC · Chair [1:29:29]:

Thank you, Madam Tuvaibargarvany.


CRC · Committee member [1:29:35]:

Thank you, Chair, and good morning to the delegation. Thank you for the fruitful dialogue that we had between yesterday and today. Yesterday, Madam Minister, you told us that there are almost over 2 million children who are attending early childhood education. And we understood from the conversation between yesterday and today and the answers given by your delegation that it's financed majorly by the private sector and not the government. Now, I have two concerns. One, how do you ensure that these centers are available for all children, especially those in the rural areas and remote areas? That's number one. And how does the government ensure quality and standard? I think this question was asked of these centers, what about the poor families that cannot afford to pay fees and other educational expenses for such an education. So, is there some sort of system or plan that will support such families so that children can go to schools? And what mechanisms are in place to ensure that families understand the importance of this level of education prior to primary education. Can I have one more quick question? Okay, the second question is about inclusion. I know that you're working hard and you've made important milestones where inclusion is concerned. But can you tell us how many schools in Uganda can be said to be truly inclusive? truly inclusive, where children learn side by side with the norm, I mean, children with disabilities are learning side by side, not separate classroom, with other children, and where the infrastructure is inclusive and accessible, where assistive devices are available, where teachers are trained, where there are programs to continuously expose teachers who are in service and pre-service to inclusive education and how to handle children with disabilities in the classrooms. Thank you very much.


CRC · Chair [1:31:57]:

Thank you very much. Madame Suzana Ho, please.


CRC · Committee member [1:32:05]:

Thank you, thank you, Madame Chair. I had some questions on birth registration. You You talked about children in refugee camps who are in refugee camps in your country, I believe Congolese, including them. Do you have a birth registration system for those children? And again, on birth registration, what about children born out of wedlock? How do you know whether the mothers have been able to register their children? How does that happen? It is very important that they are not marginalised, and it is extremely important to have the registry office close by. I would like to know how you tackle that. What about community leaders and parish leaders? Are they informed about the need for birth registration? Do the offices have the proper equipment to carry out birth registration? We were talking about early pregnancies. I don't know. I think there is quite a lively debate going on, religiously and politically, that should young girls actually get access to this sort of information. How are you going to prevent early pregnancies unless you do that? I mean, information is so important. we're talking about a large number of young girls who do fall pregnant. I think you talked about access of children to the digital world, phones, et cetera, and I think it's very important that that information is handled properly. What about a child who are spending hours in front of their phone, it is extremely important that we also look at the digital issue. On pregnancies, that also can lead to clandestine abortions in very unsafe conditions. What has been done on your part there? How are you to address the needs of those children to avoid clandestine abortions? FGM was mentioned, and there are concomitant problems with obstetric fistula with that. Again, are there any specific programs that address these issues? You talked about HIV earlier on. There is the Global Fund, of course. to try to combat that, but what about tuberculosis and malaria? What programmes are being... I'm thinking what I call paediatric tuberculosis in your country. Malaria, I think the level of malaria is quite high in regions of your country. What about what we call these impregnated mosquito nets that are used, are they distributed? How are they distributed? And how do you ensure that those mosquito nets are properly used? Sometimes they're used for other purposes, so it's extremely important that they do serve the right purpose. How are you raising awareness as to the proper use of mosquito nets? I think what I term these impregnated mosquito nets are distributed, if I'm not mistaken, once every three years. What happens in the rural areas? How, as I said before, are these nets properly used?

Now, I think 60 --.

To send are not actually used properly, according to the information. So, those are my questions. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you.


CRC · Chair [1:36:24]:

Mr. Bragi Gudbrandsson, please.


CRC · Committee member [1:36:29]:

Thank you, Madam Chair, Honourable Minister and delegation. I thank you for all your answers. It's a real pleasure to meet you. It's quite clear that Uganda has made progress in numerous areas relating to child rights. which we are, of course, extremely happy to learn about. There are three topics I want to raise with you. The first is the Anti-Homosexual Act from 2023. Now, I'm sorry to say that this is probably one of the worst acts in the world in terms of human rights. You must be aware that a number of United Nations bodies have urged your government to repeal this legislation during the past years. And I just have to say to you that I feel sorry for young people, children, and adolescents in Uganda who are discovering their sexuality and same-sex orientation, which certainly is not a preference nor recruited, but biologically determined. Have you considered seriously to repeal this legislation? The second point I want to make is on a more positive I admire the steps you have taken in terms of improving the child-friendliness of judicial procedures in cases of child abuse, particularly child sexual abuse. I want to ask you if you have ever considered giving children the opportunity to give their testimony under the conditions of the due process, without unduly delay following the disclosure, this being recorded and then submitted when the case comes to trial, which may be two to four to five years, judging by the time line in Uganda's court. So to avoid the child having to wait for many years until they make their testimony in the courts, which can be very hard on the child to wait such a long time and a traumatizing experience. And my final question relates to surrogacy. Do you have any policies, regulations that you can share with us? Thank you very much in advance for your answers.


CRC · Chair [1:39:21]:

Thank you. Ms. Mary Bove.


CRC · Committee member [1:39:29]:

Thank you. Thank you for all the answers, particularly the questions that tie in with what I am going to touch on. This has to do with juvenile justice and the progress that Uganda has made in this area, and I think we need to pay tribute to that. We have heard explanations on this. has to do with what you do with children who are below the legal age of responsibility. I would like to know from you, could you provide us with further information on the practice, on the programs and the responses when you're talking about criminal responsibility of children to the recognized minimum age in your country? I'd also like to know whether Uganda wants to increase or intends to increase from 12 to 14 this age. in line with our general comment 34 on criminal responsibility. Thank you.


CRC · Chair [1:40:39]:

Thank you very much to all the colleagues. So you see the huge number of questions coming to the delegation. This shows a big interest from the committee sides on Uganda's child rights issues. I had also one question, and I will quickly ask this. I wanted to learn from you how you work on different child rights related issues with the local authorities, with the, not authorities, better to say the local leaders, religious leaders and other leaders. As far as I know, the influence of those leaders are not, you know, not, so better to say the influence is big on the ground. So how we work with them and is there any state policy in place which systemically addresses this issue? So now we will have exactly 15 minutes break and you will have roughly 45 minutes when you come back for your answers. Thank you. Dear colleagues, dear members of delegation, welcome back and please proceed with the answers.


Uganda · Minister [1:59:58]:

Chair, allow me now to invite my members of the delegation to respond to the pending questions and issues raised.


Uganda [2:00:12]:

and the honourable members. I will be answering the question in respect to surrogacy. Uganda does not have a comprehensive legislative regulation in respect to surrogacy yet. However, the Human Rights Assisted Productive Technology Bill was tabled before Parliament in 2023. to establish the said regulatory framework. It seeks to regulate, inter alia, fertility centres, gametes and embryo donation plus storage, assisted reproductive procedures, the rights of persons involved, the rights of children born, and the establishment of a register. As of March 2021-2026, 12 March 2026, the Bill has progressed to the second reading, a stage that offers the first opportunity to the Members of Parliament to engage in a democratic debate on its main principles. The Parliament of Uganda Bill Tracker. I will proceed to answer the issue in respect to indigenous and minority persons. Uganda recognizes and protects the rights of all persons without discrimination, pursuant to Articles 32, 36, and 37 of the Constitution, which provide for specific protections for minorities and historically marginalized groups, including the Batwa, the Benet, the Ik, the Tepeth, covering the right to participate in decision making, the right to have their views and interests reflected in national plans and programs, the right to practice and enjoy their culture, and affirmative action to address any historical marginalization. The listing of communities in the Constitution is not in any way exhaustive. It does not exclude other communities from the rights and protections that are guaranteed under the Constitution and the applicable law. The government also recognizes that children in minority and indigenous groups may face particular socioeconomic, cultural, and livelihood vulnerabilities requiring attention to the cultural, social, economic, and land-related context in which their rights are exercised. The Children Act, the national child policy and the broader child protection framework apply to all children, regardless of ethnicity, culture or community background, safeguarding them against discrimination, neglect, exploitation and abuse and providing access to education, healthcare, family care and social protection. The Government has implemented targeted interventions for historically marginalized communities, including the Batwa, while working with the local governments and community structures to improve access for children in marginalized communities to education, health services, birth registration, social protection, child protection services. In respect to land and evictions and participation of the minority groups, Uganda's legal framework does not in any way permit arbitrary deprivation of property or unlawful eviction. Land acquisition for public purposes must follow constitutional and statutory requirements, including assessment, violation, consultation, and compensation. The government recognizes that displacement can disproportionately affect children, their education, their health, family life, access to services, cultural identity and livelihoods. And resettlement plus compensation processes give particular attention to vulnerable households and children. For major developments, conservation projects, environmental and social impact assessments are conducted with mechanisms for affected persons, including children, raised and addressed. In revising the voluntary management and government plan for the Semuliki National Park, the government, through its agencies, consulted a number of indigenous communities, including the Batwa, their representation and organizations in respect to what should be done as per the voluntary management. The government also continues to engage the different indigenous communities on historical land and conservation-related grievances tied to protected area management. In all of these, the government ensures that the best interests of the child are treated as primary consideration where displacement in any way would affect families with children with regard to family environment, education, health, safety, social protection, and development.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Honourable Minister and Chair. I will now respond to the issue of children incarcerated with their mothers. In the Ugandan legal framework, it allows children to be incarcerated with their mothers for a specific period of time, which is 18 to 24 months. Uganda recognizes that a child should not be deprived of liberty or punished because of an offense committed by his or her parent. Where a child is allowed to remain with an incarcerated mother, this is intended to protect the child's best interests and preserve the parent-child relationship, particularly where separation would not be in the child's best interest. The law and prison practice provide for young children to remain with their mothers in prison for a limited time, subject to the applicable legal framework. The child is treated as a child requiring care and protection and not as a prisoner. The child is therefore not subjected to the same regime as an incarcerated adult. During this period that a child remains with an incarcerated mother, the Uganda Prison Service provides for the child's basic needs, including accommodation, food, health care, and other essential care, while taking into account the child's age and developmental needs. The government also recognizes the importance of ensuring that children do not remain in prison beyond the period permitted by the law. Where a child reaches the prescribed age or where continued residence with a mother is no longer in the child's best interest, appropriate alternative care arrangements are made. These arrangements prioritize family-based care and the preservation of the child's family relationship. Government further acknowledges incarceration can have an impact on children and is therefore committed to improving the conditions in which children accompanying their mothers are accommodated, strengthening access to health and psychological services, and ensuring that their rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child are respected. The over-arching principle in that is that a child should never be punished for the conduct of a parent. The child's best interests, safe lead, development and right to family life remain the primary considerations. Thank you.


Uganda [2:07:44]:

I'd like to respond to the aspect of the child-friendly processes and the aspect of recorded evidence. We appreciate that and report that there has been an on-going process of amending the Evidence Act 1960, which is a very old law from the colonial times. Part of the aspects that are being captured is on the possibility of having evidence that is recorded and admitted before the courts of law. That is a work in progress. There was also a comment in terms of the age of criminal responsibility. Right now, we do not have a concrete report to give in terms of the advancement or progress. Research is still being undertaken as part of the law-making process to identify the priorities of Ugandans in regard.

To this aspect.

I'd like to respond then to the chairperson's question in terms of how we are working with the local actors as well as the religious actors in terms of child justice. And just by way of background, in 2019, the government undertook a study through the Uganda Law Reform Commission on informal justice systems.

A few years ago, the Hague International Law Institute also carried out a study.

And it showed that the first point of contact for criminal matters is at the local, that over 90% of Ugandans first report to the local entities before they come to the formal justice system. So being cognizant of that, we have continuously continued to work to ensure that we bring this on board.

So.

Uganda's engagement with local and religious leaders is structurally embedded in our policies and is not just a community outreach programme. I will report on five distinct interlocking levels.

The first one is that of the local council courts, which are the first formal tier of child justice mechanisms. which comes into play through the Local Council Act, and it gives the elected local council village leaders from the local council one, two and three, it gives them formal judicial authority over child matters as courts of first instance. We have over 60,000 of these currently in Uganda. These are local leaders and they are elected and they are legally recognized as the first forum for the vast majority of child justice issues. They resolve petty offenses through mediation, family restoration, parental accountability, and community service before cases go to the foremost infrastructures, structures. The LC courts also investigate cases of child neglect and abuse, and they refer these cases to the formal intervention of probation officers.

And the child and family protection units.

The second one is that of religious leaders, and these are our institutional partners in diversion and rehabilitation. The inter-religious council of Uganda unites the Catholic Church, the Church of Uganda, the Orthodox Church, the Seventh Day churches, and the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council as the primary formal faith-based partner on child rights. Religious leaders are recognized under the diversion guidelines as community resources to whom diverted children can be referred. Religious leaders regularly serve as fit persons under the Children's Act, and they are formally appointed to supervise diverted children. The Catholic Church, through Caritas Uganda and the Diocese and Justice and Peace Commissions, provide chaplaincy in remand homes and the National Rehabilitation Center, family liaison for the detained children, and parish-level reintegration support. The Church of Uganda's 2,200 primary schools, they operate mandatory child protection policies with referral pathways to the probation function. The mosques networks and the Qadi courts under the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council engage on family matters, including custody and maintenance, directly affecting children's welfare. The third parameter is that of traditional and clan leaders, and these come in to provide support in terms of reintegration and prevention. The clan leaders and elders are central to two critical child justice functions. One, prevention, where they do mediation of family disputes, they enforce customary accountability for children who have caused harm, and they intervene in harmful practices, including child marriage. And the other aspect is reintegration, where acceptance by clan and elder community is often the decisive factor in whether a child exiting the rehabilitative school or remand home successfully reintegrates or is rejected and returns to risk. The Buganda Kingdom has undertaken specific child protection programs, including the Kabaka's initiative addressing child sacrifice. Alternative panels at the district level also routinely involve the local council leadership and cultural leaders in placement decisions for children exiting justice facilities. The fourth is the justice for children programme and the community justice programme, which is funded by the Government of Sweden. These train local and religious leaders as fit persons, they strengthen community referral pathways to formal protection structures and engage community leaders in welcoming children returning from detention, and this directly addresses the family and community rejection that is.

A primary resettlement barrier.

In Karamoja, we are glad to report where the formal justice infrastructure is thinnest and child vulnerability is the highest, the clan elders and traditional leaders are especially critical. They do this through managing the cattle raiding related violence. They support the NUSAFF program and they mediate child marriage cases where legislative approaches alone have been insufficient. We do acknowledge that local and religious leaders simultaneously serve as child protection partners, but also in some context, they transmit harmful practices like child marriage, which are conducted through cultural ceremonies and corporal punishment, which are sometimes endorsed. But we do continue to engage and are cognizant that engagement therefore requires transformation of these institutions' own practices alongside partnership. Systematic national data on the outcome of these cases is not yet centrally compiled, and we are working to strengthen this through the CW MIS under development.

Thank you.


Uganda [2:15:19]:

So, thank you so much. I want to respond to questions raised by the gentleman. I think he has left. I don't know whether I should respond about the issues relating to the Uganda Child Helpline, how much publicity is provided to 116 in schools and communities. I'd like to mention that the Uganda Child Helpline remains one of our most trusted and institutionalized platforms for reporting cases of violence against children. GBV, and now as recently as this year, child labor. Uganda Child Helpline has handled over 40,726 cases in the past three years. Out of these, 399 have been taken to court. 1,219 victims have received health services. 189 have received psychosocial services, psychosocial support services. We have done 20 community outreach programs. and been to over 120 schools in the past three years. The helpline also runs media campaigns periodically with support from development partners. They have a huge presence online. They have offline services, but they also have an AI chatbot, which we developed last year, which provides free mental health and psychosocial support using the SMS platform. We also have posters which we distribute in community places to enable people to call, and we regularly host community radio talk shows and community engagements where they popularize the 116 helpline as a toll-free line to report and respond to cases of violence against children, GBV, and child labor in communities. Iana Chevech asked about how many districts have the children reference groups. We have 30 districts having the children reference groups. I'll share with the committee the list of these districts and Kampala Capital City Authority. So we have 30 districts and one city. One of the major policy changes that the children reference groups have proposed or have delivered is one, having a child representative at the district child wellbeing committee and one child representative at the inter-ministerial child wellbeing committee. Our national child policy did not put a provision for child representative at these technical committees, and this was proposed and accepted as a policy change by the government of Uganda. I'm going to go deeply into a number of questions which were raised yesterday from health concerning routine immunization. The government of Uganda has continued to strengthen routine immunization. And during the past financial year, we implemented a big catch-up exercise vaccination campaign to identify and vaccinate children who had missed routine vaccinations. Our performance has improved considerably. DPT3, Hib, and Hepatitis B3 coverage has reached 97% against the national target of 100%. MRO1 coverage has reached 97% compared with the previous year of 94%. And our national DPT1 and DPT3 dropout rate, which was 3%, is still within the limit of the WHO acceptable range. However, we note that at least 20 districts out of the 146 record DPT3 coverage, which is below our 90% target. So government continues to use community-based defaulter tracing, catch-up vaccination, voluntary health teams, CSOs, and strengthen school and community mobilization to reach zero-dose children. Regarding the polio resurgence, Uganda recognizes that the polio events demonstrate the importance of maintaining high population immunity, sensitive surveillance, and rapid outbreak response, even when routine immunization coverage is nationally high. Uganda's response is to strengthen routine immunization identification and vaccination of zero dose under immunized children, conducting supplementary catch-up immunization where immunization gaps identified, strengthening community-based disease surveillance, monitoring rapid outbreak investigation and response, and strengthening cross-border surveillance and coordination. Under health financing, government of Uganda recognizes the committee's concern regarding health financing In the last financial year, the health sector on budget resource envelope was approximately 4 trillion, and government contributed over 68% of this. 31% came from development partners, and the health allocation represented only 5.6% of the national budget. Government's domestic contribution increased, however, this financial year by approximately 6% compared to the previous financial year. A number of financing challenges have been identified according to the annual health sector performance report for last year. Competing national priorities and fiscal constraints, declining external assistance, inadequate financing for medicine and supplies, delays in donor-funded procurement and implementation, and the need to raise domestic financing. Under the health service workforce, this is the current situation. The number of registered doctors increased in the past year from 9,388 to 10,433. Registered nurses and midwives increased from 119,132 to 133,542. The health worker density indicator reached 31.3 health workers per 10,000 population, exceeding the annual target of 25 per 10,000 population. However, we acknowledge a major remaining challenge, which is staffing of public health facilities with staffing rates of below 50%. So the report notes the following interventions that are currently being implemented by government of Uganda, improving the remuneration structure, increasing recruitment, deployment of medical interns, improving the human resource information system to ensure adequate human resource planning and prioritizing critical carders and underserved areas. Government has also expanded and upgraded the health facility infrastructure network. Last financial year, our health infrastructure was as follows. We have 3,612 health center threes, 262 health center fours, 189 general hospitals, 17 regional referral hospitals, eight national referral hospitals, alongside health center tools. How do we monitor health facility quality? We have a health facility quality assessment program, which has shown consistent improvement. Overall quality assessment performance increased from 63.8 in 2024 to 67.2 in 2025. However, we also acknowledge that a number of facilities do not yet meet universal acceptable standards. The facility readiness indicator was 65. 2 against a target of 80% and our health infrastructure recorded 74. 6. While our human resource recorded 62. 4 in the facility quality assessment. Government is therefore continuing to upgrade health facilities. Construct and rehabilitate new facilities. Equipping facilities. We will mention deeply in our report about the a neonatal intensive care units that have been established to improve neonatal health in all regional referral hospitals, recruitment of staff for the upgraded facilities, and improving availability of medicines and supplies. I will also respond to a question regarding the ECD centers. And how do we maintain standards? And how about families that can't afford? Uganda has categorized the ECD centers under four categories. We have daycare facilities for children below three, nursery schools that are privately owned, we have community-based centers that are run by faith-based institutions, and CSOs and home-based facilities. All these are part of our ECD programs. that provide early learning to children. So for children who are living in hard to reach areas, where it's not profitable to establish ECD centers, the current ECCE policy has proposed to provide resources for government to establish facilities for pre-primary education. Training ECD teachers already started five years ago. Annually, government trains at least 100 teachers and deploys them in these areas. So these centers are going to be served first by those that will be established by government, but also by CSOs and religious institutions. Community-based ECD centers are not subject to any taxes and receive incentives from government in terms of leading, reading, learning materials, and teacher capacity building. Uganda last year established the basic requirements and minimum standards for pre-primary education for children three to five years, and these standards are being rolled out. Training for school inspectors has already been undertaken and the monitoring system is put in place. For families that cannot afford, they benefit from existing livelihood programs to increase their incomes and ensure that children in these areas can afford, are reached with the services. For children living in refugee settlements, free pre-primary schools are provided for them to access pre-primary education. These ones are run in collaboration with the UNICEF, UNHCR, and the head of the education cluster in the humanitarian settings. And all these fit under the Education Response Plan 2 for Uganda. Families are informed about the importance of early learning through our parenting education programs. Our national parenting manual includes a particular session on supporting early learning straight from the home up to all levels of education. But also our key family care practices have a session number of areas supporting early learning from the home, including demonstrations on making play materials and interacting or early stimulation for children below three years. The number of schools that are inclusive, I'll leave that to my Minister. There's a question which was raised by Mr. Benoit on on children who are removed from streets and disappeared. I'd like to put it on record that government of Uganda has not received any report concerning children who have been rescued from the streets and have disappeared. Children who are removed from the streets are taken to a known location, which is Masulita Children's Village, where they are rehabilitated, provided with free health services, free accommodation, Case management for all these children is undertaken by trained probation and social welfare officers. Reintegration plans developed and implemented. Children who prefer to return to school are returned to schools within their district local governments. We're having 90% of children who are rescued from the streets coming from Karamoja. They are put in a boarding school in Napak District local government. and provided with meals, accommodation, and all scholastic materials at the expense of government. For those whose parents have been identified, they are reunited. For those who prefer to go into vocational training institutions, they are admitted at Koblenz Youth Skills Training Center, where they receive all these skills that they require. For children who are staying in homes that are not approved, Government of Uganda implements the approved children home rules, which detail the minimum requirements for establishment, for licensing and registration of an approved children's home, but also details the number of children and capacities for each children home and the particular categories of children that are supposed to be received in that children home. Admission to a children home is by way of an order from court but also maintenance and supervision is done by an independent Authority the probation and social welfare officers who are based at the district level monitor compliance to the regulations and to the registration that is issued by the minister of state for youth and children Affairs all children homes are supposed to submit biannual reports to the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, which are used to assess their compliance with existing regulations and service delivery standards. Financing for children homes is a bit restrictive. Government only provides technical support through training and provision of materials. During the COVID-19 pandemic, government of Uganda distributed food and non-food items to all approved children homes and those that were unapproved to cater for the deficiencies that resulted from the limited financial inflows from philanthropies and CSOs that were supporting these children homes. Post COVID-19, apart from free health services, free training and capacity building for the workers, monitoring and support supervision and regulation, there is no support that is provided to these children. However, linkages to education, to free pre-primary education, to free primary education and secondary education is available. And as recently as this year, all children homes catering for children with special needs will benefit from the child disability benefit that has been launched by government of Uganda. Over to you, honorable minister.


Uganda [2:30:17]:

Thank you, honorable minister. Madam chair and members of the committee. In the interest of time, I will quickly answer the question on how government ensures that the budget allocated for programs targeted at the rights of the child and how those resources are spent to translate into measurable outcomes and how they are tracked. We wish to reiterate the following. The management of public resources in Uganda is anchored in the Public Finance Management Act 2015, which establishes the principles and procedures for sound fiscal policy. orderly public expenditure and accountability in the use of government funds. The Act further obliges all government entities to mainstream gender and equity considerations in their budgetary processes, thereby making every allocation not only an expenditure item, but a measurable commitment to inclusive service delivery and the welfare of all Ugandans, including children. Central to this architecture is the statutory role of the Equal Opportunities Commission, established under the Equal Opportunities Commission Act, pursuant to Article 32 of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda. Before any budget is approved and funds are released, the EOC, Equal Opportunities Commission, assesses the national budget estimates and ministerial policy statements for gender and equity responsiveness and issues a certificate of gender and equity compliance. Important to note is that this certificate is a precondition for budget appropriation. The issuance of that certificate of, sorry, the issuance of the certificate of compliance guarantees that the government is able to track expenditure and ensure value for money in allocations meant to take care of children. To monitor budget performance, reports are submitted quarterly and these inform subsequent disbursements. This means that programs for the welfare of children, which have been elaborated earlier by my distinguished colleague, are not only protected at the approval stage, but are continuously monitored, verified, and refined throughout the financial year, guaranteeing accountability, value for money, and the effective delivery of service to the children of Uganda. I thank you. Honorable Minister, back to you. Thank you.


Uganda [2:32:37]:

Thank you. Thank you, Chair. I will address myself just three issues or questions. The first was a question on what happens if there is a language barrier for refugee children in schools in settlements. I wish to inform the committee translation services are provided as a protection tool through implementation partners of the UNHCR. You recall we mentioned the challenges faced by resources. These are some of the key issues that require funding, considering the additional cost to the host country, which does not have the requisite capacities and skills to support this. So in summary, UNHCR recruits and pays partners to provide that service. The second question I want to respond to regarding the children in armed conflict and civilians tried in a court martial. Chair, I would like to inform that civilians are not tried in a court martial in Uganda. Secondly, Uganda is peaceful and secure. And as we know, children in armed conflicts are found globally across multiple regions, primarily within active war zones. Uganda doesn't fit in that category, and as such, we don't have any child soldiers. In fact, what we are actively involved in is to support mediation efforts in our own region for peace and security. We are also involved in stabilization activities. As you may be aware, for instance, We are involved in activities to support stabilization in Somalia and also in the DRC, working collaboratively with the concerned country to neutralize negative forces who recruit and, of course, lure children within their ranks. This is done often at very high sacrifice by our own forces. The third issue and question I would like to address is the issue of the Anti-Homosexuality Act. This was something that we touched on yesterday, but I just want to make a comment and respond since it was raised again. A comment was made that it's the worst of all acts, and a call has been made to repeal the law, and they're sorry for many young people in Uganda. I would like to say this, Chair. Again, a campaign was unearthed in Uganda targeting children in schools in the entire country. How was it discovered? It was discovered because children resisted going to school, and questions arose, why were kids not wanting to go to school? What was found out was that there was promotion use of audio, video, and books in schools. When it was found out, this was unacceptable. And across the country, across the political divide, across religious ethnic groups, there was a call demanding for action. In Uganda, promotion of any sexuality, heterosexual or homosexual, is unacceptable. These are our norms, these are our cultures, and these are our beliefs. As a result of what was unearthed, Parliament, which has a responsibility to legislate, like in many of the countries represented here, through a consultation process, adopted a bill which went through and eventually was enacted into law. The bill does not discriminate. What the bill prohibits is promotion of any kind, and I will repeat it, promotion of any kind, heterosexuality or homosexuality. This is a matter that we have engaged with international partners, and Uganda has, as part of the culture, we respect people's values. We respect people's norms. What we find intolerable is an attempt to impose values that are not ours. So what we expect from others is to respect our own cultures and our norms. This bill, as far as we are concerned, protects children. They are in a happier place. Our children are well. And as we speak now, the bill continues to receive support from the country. And just to add, It does not discriminate in terms of access to social services, whether it is education, whether it is health, et cetera. And we have often said it would challenge anyone who would say that it discriminates on any Ugandan based on their sexuality. I would like to thank you, Chair.


Uganda [2:38:20]:

Honourable Minister, I will respond to questions on birth registration. Uganda recognizes that birth registration is the gateway to identity, protection, and access to essential services, and does not make a distinction between children born in or out of wedlock. Uganda has made progress in expanding birth registration. The National Identification and Registration Authority has scaled up the electronic birth registration system and mobile vital record system with support from partners. and has such reached out to underserved districts and integrated birth registration with immunization services in over 120 districts. To raise awareness on the need for birth registration, they have made use of what they call birth registration weeks that are held in districts, including those in hard to reach areas, such as Arua, Moroto, Mayuge, and other places, which have registered over 600,000 children registered between the years 2021 and 2023. In the financial year 2024 and 2025, the National Identification and Registration Authority registered 498,596 births and a total of 357 birth notifications were received from health facilities and communities where births took place. In that financial year alone, NIRA, which is the National Registration Authority, registered a total of 1,231,369 children aged between the ages of 0 to 9 years. Of that category, 609,345 were male, while 622,015 were females. NIRA also registered a total of 3,972,940 children aged between the ages of 10 to 17, with 1.9 million being male and 2 million are females. NIRA also registered births in refugee settlements and recorded 25,134 new births in 2024 alone, ensuring that recognition and protection of children born in displacement as well. So with that, thank you very much, Chair.


Uganda · Minister [2:41:04]:

Let me just add a little more on pre-primary education that my colleague earlier on had Historically, the government of Uganda has not directly funded pre-primary operations, leaving early childhood education to private providers, parents and NGOs. With the launch of the early childhood care and education policy, the state has introduced its first targeted fiscal framework. Under total policy allocation, the government has committed 19.74 billion shillings over a rolling five-year timeline, specifically for early childhood care and education system building and regulatory rollouts. That is establishing public centers exclusively in underserved rural parishes where private sectors do not operate, and funding the professionalization and curriculum training of early grade caregivers and strengthening. quality assurance. And by December 2025, however, we had 24,923 registered pre-primary schools with 592,049 learners, of which 11,713 were learners with special needs, 18,790 teachers and PTR of 31 to 1. Also key to note is that for those areas where parents cannot afford, government doesn't work alone. Government works hand in hand in collaboration with NGOs, with CSOs, with religious institutions to establish community-based ECD centers so to ensure that even in the smallest of units, children are not completely left out. And in response to inclusive Earlier on, you wanted the numbers of some of the schools that are registered. At primary level, we have 27 schools that are registered, and at secondary level, we have 26 schools where they have teachers who are trained to handle even children with special needs. and equipment installed in all these institutions and with all the relevant aids that they need to ensure that children with disabilities are incorporated. And to answer the question on malaria, I would like to bring to your notice that Uganda is driving a major nationwide campaign and a strategic plan to eliminate malaria completely by 2030. And we are shifting the focus from just control to complete eradication of malaria. Key to note is that there are national strategies that have been put in place and the National Malaria Elimination Strategic Plan spanning from 2026 up to 2030. It was launched in April this year, 2026. And also maybe to bring it to your attention, I am a legislator in the Parliament of Uganda and on the 26th of July 2026, we had our annual parliamentary malaria the walk. So the legislators are coming out and we are taking the lead to end malaria by 2030. The Deputy Speaker of Parliament this year was the chief walker alongside other legislators, diplomats, civil society groups, and the theme was walking the talk and end malaria now. So we are committed to this fight against malaria. The question of us to how effective the net distribution is. I already told you earlier on that the ministry has what we call the village health teams that work.

Two in every village.

And recently, like I said, it's being reinforced by the community health extension workers that was also recently launched to help and they aid in the distribution household to household, door to door campaigns. This is their everyday work. So that is some of them. And also the malaria, the mosquito net distribution was launched recently also. We have about 25.8 million in April this year. Mosquito nets were launched to be distributed to 130 districts. That is already also in the fight against malaria. And in conclusion, I know that there was a question raised on Ebola and wanted to know the impact that the recent Ebola outbreak had. Yes, we had an outbreak on the 15th of May 2026, and I'm happy to report that Uganda successfully halted the transmission. And of those affected, all the cases to note in Uganda were imported adults from the Democratic Republic of Congo who were coming into Uganda to seek care. And only one child was infected by the mother, and they all recovered. The health workers, the four health workers who also were affected, had very minimal interaction with children. So I welcome your congratulatory message where WHO declared Uganda Ebola-free. And now I also take the floor to invite you to feel free to come to Uganda now. You know, Uganda is the Pearl of Africa. It's a tourist destination. Don't be scared. We'll be ready and willing to receive you anytime. I thank you.


CRC · Chair [2:46:51]:

Thank you very much. Now I would like to give floor back to the coordinator of the country task force, Mr. Ben Romain Kirespo.


CRC · Country Task Force Coordinator [2:47:02]:

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Minister, Excellencies, distinguished member of the delegation of the Republic of Uganda, as we bring this intense and highly productive dialogue to a close, I want to express on behalf of the task force, but also on the entire committee, my gratitude to the high-level multi-sectorial delegation of Uganda for your active and dedicated participation to our exchange. Our exchange over the past two days has been characterized by a truly constructive, transparent and collaborative spirit, reflecting our shared commitment to the advancement of children's rights. We highly appreciate your detailed response to almost all our questions. We must warmly congratulate the Government of Uganda for your constitution that embeds some of the rights of the Convention, the comprehensive amended Children's Act, the numerous national strategies, the very significant progress engranged in several key areas since our last review. For example, when it comes to child survival and health, the decline in under-five mortality, the reduction of child stunting rates. Your commitment to diversion and restorative justice is highly commendable. We also praise the development of the child wellbeing management information system to address critical child data gaps. It seems to be promising. The very fact that you sent your report and took part in this review is a clear sign of your continued commitment. We thank you for that. We know that the path for the full realization of the Convention is an ongoing journey, and we encourage you to redouble your efforts in addressing several persistent challenges. You have recognized this yourself. We know, for instance, that the global ban on corporal punishment in all settings is not yet achieved. Also, the legal ban is not sufficient. There is a need to convince the population, uh, of the detrimental effect of using violence in education, and we need to change the mentality promoting positive education. Let us not forget all the children living in vulnerable situations: children in street situations, minorities and indigenous groups, refugees and migrant children in institutions, children living in poverty, working children, among many others. We understand that the State cannot cover from one day to another all domains covered by the Convention and need the support of the international community, especially in some specific policies. We duly noted that the considerable cuts in international cooperation have put you under huge constraint, and we deeply deplore this evolution. In the meantime, we would really want the country to be able to cover progressively the budget that are needed to implement the Convention from your own budget. As I said in my introductory message, we also had to address very sensitive issues, in particular when it comes to the safeguard of the vital space of civil society and the child right defenders, ensuring that the Non-Governmental Organization Act and the newly enacted Protection of Sovereignty Act do not restrict their legitimate advocacy. We have also raised our grave concern about the consequences of the Anti-Homosexual Act. Our concern do not intend to interfere with the values of Uganda, but to uphold the rights of all children, no matter their sexual orientation and gender identity. We expressly call on Ugandan government to resist the global trend towards rolling back protection for fundamental rights, particularly those of children, which is regrettably becoming increasingly prevalent. Looking ahead, the concluding observation we will adopt at the end of this session should be seen as a strategic roadmap to guide Uganda's national plan and budgetary allocation over the coming years. To ensure a robust and effective follow-up, we strongly recommend that Uganda strengthen its inter-ministerial committee on human rights, providing it with the necessary mandate and financial resources to systematically track and coordinate the implementation of these treaty obligations. Furthermore, we emphasize the importance of disseminating these concluding observations widely, and we urge you to produce and distribute a child-friendly version, including in local language, so that children themselves, including those in the most marginalized and rural communities, can understand and claim their rights. We would like to see children involved in the implementation of these concluding observations. We leave this session confident that the Republic of Uganda will translate the commitments made during this dialogue in concrete, lasting action on the ground. The Committee stands ready to accompany and support you in this noble task. I thank you, and I wish you a safe journey back to Kampala.


CRC · Chair [2:52:59]:

Thank you. I would like to give the floor back to Your Excellency for the concluding remarks.


Uganda · Minister [2:53:07]:

Madam Chairperson, members of the Committee, ladies and gentlemen, we came here in a spirit of sincerity and openness to share with the Committee the journey we have taken on implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child. On behalf of the Government of the Republic of Uganda, I wish to express our sincere appreciation to the Committee for the constructive dialogue and engagement during the last two days. Children are dependents who represent the future foundation of any society, including our own. Fulfilling our obligations has taken centre stage, and as we have demonstrated, significant milestones have been achieved in implementing the Convention, although some work remains to be done. In this regard, I wish to reaffirm our unwavering commitment to fulfilling our obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols. Uganda remains particularly committed to advancing education accessible and quality health services, comprehensive child protection systems, social protection measures, a child-sensitive juvenile justice framework, and the prevention of all forms of violence, exploitation and discrimination. The Committee's observations and concerns relating to children with disabilities education, health, social protection, child labor, children in street situations, juvenile justice, and violence against children, among others, are noted and appreciated. And if there are other questions or concerns that we're not responding to, we shall do so in writing. We'll continue on our path to strengthen national efforts to ensure that every child, regardless of background, ability or circumstance can enjoy their full rights, reach their full potential to ensure that no child is left behind. I thank you.


CRC · Chair [2:55:16]:

Your Excellency, Madam Minister, Your Excellency, Mr. Ambassador, distinguished members of the delegation, I thank you very much for these two constructive days and constructive dialogue with clear answers you have provided. And you are already aware that you have 48 hours after this dialogue to provide your information in written. We will very much appreciate it. We understand that this was a lot of, a big amount of questions, which also explains the very important constructive dialogue and your answers provided also, which triggered more questions from the side of the committee members. We appreciate and commend all the positive developments Uganda has proven as positive developments for the children of Uganda, for all the vulnerable groups you mentioned during these two days. We commend, once again, appreciate it, but you also aware about the challenges you have. And I really appreciated your comment also recently now that you will take the recommendations done by the colleagues at the CRC and will try your best to address them and to implement intangible results on the ground. I fully understand you have your difficulties. It is not so easy to implement, despite the best intentions you have. It's very difficult to implement it in tangible results for children. So you have our full support, and we hope that the next time when the Uganda delegation will come to the CRC, you will provide really excellent results for the children of Uganda, based hopefully on the concluding observations the committee. I thank you very much and please convey our warmest regards to all the children of Uganda. Thank you and wishing you safe travel back home. Thank you.