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Uganda
Uganda has the highest proportion of AIDS orphans worldwide. The two-decade long conflict in northern Uganda has displaced over 1.8 million people and led to the abduction of more than 60,000 children. The situation of war-affected children and youth in the northern region of Uganda is dire, and little has been done to address their special needs. Some improvements were seen after the current administration introduced free universal primary education in the country in 1996, in the context of northern Uganda, as a way to equalise opportunities, greatly increasing gross enrolment in primary schools. In chronically food-insecure northeastern Uganda, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) runs school feeding programmes to encourage attendance.
Child soldiers
Years of brutal conflict and violence in northern Uganda have had a devastating impact on child wellbeing. The Lord´s Resistance Army (LRA) has abducted more than 25, 000 children since the conflict started in 1987, for use as soldiers, sex slaves and domestic workers. Up to 2000 women and children remained with the opposition LRA in late 2007.1 In Uganda, it has been proven that orphans most often come into contact with the law. In Eastern and Central Africa, the judicial systems are weak and underfunded and as a result, children who come into contact with the legal system rarely receive fair and humane treatment.
Illness
About 20,000 babies annually acquire HIV through mother-to-child transmission. Up to 150,000 children between 0 and 14 years currently live with HIV. Nearly half of the country’s estimated two million orphans are children of AIDS parents.2
Labour
Working children are a common sight in Uganda, where around 2,7 million children work for a living. Half of these children are between 10 and 14 years old.3 A study conducted by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 2004, concludes that an estimated 7, 000 to 12, 000 children in Uganda are affected by commercial sexual exploitation.4
Aggression
Violence against women and girls in the form of rape and other sexual crimes remains widespread in most parts of the country. Child sexual abuse is one of the most aggressive forms of crime against children, and in Uganda, around 10, 000 sex-related crimes were registered only in 2008. More than 97 per cent of the suspected perpetrators were not brought to justice.5
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Counting Pennies: A review of official development assistance to end violence against children
The first of its kind, Counting Pennies reviews official development assistance (ODA) to end violence against children. The report found that in 2015, total ODA spending was $174 billion and of that, less than 0.6 per cent was allocated to ending violence
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Every Last Child Country Spotlight: Uganda
Save the Children is campaigning at an international and national level to achieve the greatest impact for children with the Every Last Child Campaign. Chances of surviving, learning and being protected as a child in Uganda vary significantly according to
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A Girl No More: The changing norms of child marriage in conflict
Led by the Women’s Refugee Council, this publication presents research begun in 2011 to document factors that promote and mitigate child marriage during conflict and displacement. These findings were used to generate recommendations to reduce the vulnerab
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Child Protection in Emergencies Facts and Figures
Compiled by the Child Protection Working Group (CPWG), this report presents facts and figures on child protection in emergencies. Data was collected for the 42 countries that have a Humanitarian Coordinator or that were on the Inter-Agency's Standing Comm
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Opportunities for Strengthening Families Through Positive Discipline: Knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) study
Parenting in Africa Network (PAN) and Save the Children International (SCI) commissioned this multi-country study on the Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP) of parents and/or caregivers in disciplining and parenting. This study intended to develop da
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Rethinking Parenting for Economic Migrants in East Africa: Corporate social responsibility perspectives
Economic migration, migration on the grounds of employment or financial stability, continues to play a key role for households in East Africa. With a specific focus on the private sector in Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda this report focuses on four issues: the
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Updated Regional Framework for the Protection of South Sudanese and Sudanese Refugee Children
In response to the humanitarian crisis and in light of the serious impact on children, UNHCR and child protection partners decided to jointly develop a Regional Framework for the Protection of South Sudanese and Sudanese Refugee Children (the Regional Chi
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The Good School Toolkit for reducing physical violence from school staff to primary school students: a cluster-randomised controlled trial in Uganda
The Good School Toolkit, produced by Raising Voices, aims to help teachers and administrators create a violence-free learning environment where students can develop their skills and confidence and become constructive, creative, and thoughtful members of t
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Review of Save the Children Norway's Support to Programmes for Child Protection System Strengthening: Evaluation
This report presents a review of the key results achieved through Save the Children Norway’s programming to strengthen the national child protection system in eight countries: Cambodia, Ethiopia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Mozambique, Nepal, Nicara
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Retrak Outreach Work
Retrak is a charity organization which reaches out to thousands of children living on the streets who suffer from hunger, poverty, abuse, and violence. Retrak provides these children with the food, medicine, clothing, hygiene and shelter which they desper