Championing childhood: advocating for children's rights in Uganda
- Lauren Billington-Drew
- Oct 25, 2024
- 3 min read
Kids Club Kampala is making a huge difference in the lives of children and families living in the slums of Uganda’s capital. Our mission? To help children thrive through access to education, child protection, and family strengthening.
Through these programmes we advocate for children’s rights, ensuring that children can access basic needs like food, education, healthcare, and a safe environment, which are essential for their development. In Uganda, with high rates of poverty and inequality, defending children’s rights is vital to breaking cycles of poverty, empowering young people, and building a stronger future for the communities we work with. Advocacy for these rights also helps prevent exploitation and protects children in vulnerable situations.
Did you know that 56% of children in Uganda experience multidimensional poverty, which means they live in households with insufficient resources and are deprived of necessities like adequate clothing, clean drinking water, and regular meals? (UNICEF, 2019)
For children to succeed, they first need to have their basic needs met, including their right to access clean water and food. Through our Education Programme we offer regular, free schooling to children who can’t afford school fees which includes daily nutritious meals and access to clean drinking water all throughout the day. This gives kids nutritional support as well as access to learning and helps break the cycle of poverty through education.
That’s not all! Our team in Uganda also ensures that vulnerable children are safe through our Child Protection Programme. The Child Protection Programme combines a community-based abuse prevention approach, child inclusive counselling and mediation, and emergency response to safeguard children in imminent danger within 10 slum communities. As part of this programme, our Saturday Kids Clubs offer kids a safe space to come and receive emotional, physical and nutritional support through engaging activities. In these spaces we also distribute free period products to teens, and host girls support groups. For those most at risk, these safe spaces can be the key to changing their lives for the better, and equipping young people with the tools they need to thrive.
Our amazing safeguarding volunteers provide abuse prevention outreach training in communities - covering how to recognise and report abuse, and signposting to further support. We work closely with communities and local authorities to establish and maintain a clear reporting pathway for incidences of abuse. We also help children who have been victims of crimes with counselling, support with dealing with the authorities and taking their cases to court, promoting social justice on the ground in Uganda to provide effective and sustainable safeguarding to as many young people as possible.
We also believe in giving kids and their families the tools to thrive independently. Our ultimate goal is to empower these communities with sustainable solutions so that our programmes are no longer needed. That’s where our Family Strengthening Programme comes in. By offering vocational training in things like tailoring, knitting and carpentry, we help parents and older kids gain valuable skills to earn a living, empowering entire communities.
Through each of our programme areas, we channel our dedication to fighting for children's rights, and improving the lives of young people in Kampala for good. By addressing immediate needs like hunger and safety, and focusing on long-term empowerment through education and skills, our programmes are giving children—and entire communities—a brighter future.
It’s the kind of holistic support that not only transforms individual lives but also helps build stronger, more resilient communities.
Help us make a difference
Our programmes are a lifeline to children living in the slum communities. £96 could enable an additional child to attend our Saturday Kids Clubs every Saturday for an entire year. Can you help us keep these safe spaces available for young people in Kampala's slums?
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