Datum
23.12.2024
23.12.2024
Advocating for Child Protection in Uganda
problem & solution
Child marriage was a norm in Western Uganda and communities attached greater value to the boy child and paid little attention to the plight of the girl child. Reasons for child marriages were seen in socio-cultural norms and low levels of education.
Child marriages can lead to severe birth complications and economic hardships. Local communities observed these challenges but did not have the capacity to intervene.
The solution was to make cases of child marriage visible and to advocate for and create more awareness of child protection.
tHE EXPERIENCE
- Identification of cases of child marriage and reporting to SOS CV, local authorities and the police.
- Awareness creation and counselling on the effects of child marriage among households.
- Sensitization activities on child protection at community level and in schools.
- Training for school girls on life skills.
Challenges
- High expectation for allowances was a major impediment to SOS CV’s activities
- Uncooperative local leaders were a challenge
- Highly entrenched socio-cultural norms, beliefs and gender stereotyping that disadvantaged girl education remained
- Some of the offenders were released after bribing the police
Impact
- More perpetrators were arrested and prosecuted
- Bribery of administration and police was reduced
- Awareness of child protection was increased
- Enrolments and retention of girls in schools was increased
- Mechanisms for tracing and reintegrating already married off young girls were implemented
- The declaration „No to child marriage“ was passed nationally
Lessons Learned
- Taking into account socio-cultural norms, beliefs and gender stereotyping is key in order to plan awareness creation and sensitization activities
- Bribery reduction of local administration and police has to be part of the strategy in order to enforce prosecution
- Networking on a national level to face the challenges jointly is very effective
