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Preventing child trafficking needs integration of anti-trafficking content into school curricula
Children from vulnerable sub-regions, where poverty levels remain among the highest in the country, are particularly susceptible to trafficking. Many are transported to Kampala and other urban centres only to find themselves trapped in exploitative situations, including street begging, domestic servitude and other forms of child labour.
Denis Ntende. (Courtesy)
By: Admin ., Journalist @New Vision
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OPINION
By Denis Ntende
The widespread belief among many rural communities that Kampala offers unlimited employment opportunities has disproportionately created fertile ground for child traffickers. Exploiting poverty, unemployment and limited access to information, traffickers deceive parents with promises of quality education, decent jobs and better futures for their children. Tragically, many parents, driven by economic hardship and hope, unknowingly surrender children as young as six years old to individuals posing as benefactors.
Children from vulnerable sub-regions, where poverty levels remain among the highest in the country, are particularly susceptible to trafficking. Many are transported to Kampala and other urban centres only to find themselves trapped in exploitative situations, including street begging, domestic servitude and other forms of child labour. As these children grow older, especially adolescent girls, many are further exploited through commercial sexual exploitation and other forms of gender-based violence.
To many Ugandans, the children begging at busy road junctions in Kampala appear to be simply seeking help from kind-hearted motorists and pedestrians. Yet, behind these innocent faces lies a much darker reality. Many are victims of organised trafficking networks that profit from children’s suffering. These criminal networks control where children beg, collect the money they receive and move them from one location to another to avoid detection. The children themselves rarely benefit from the money they collect, instead they remain under the control of traffickers who exploit their vulnerability for financial gain.
The continued presence of child beggars on Kampala’s streets is, therefore, more than a social nuisance. It reflects deeper structural problems, including poverty, unemployment, organised crime, weak child protection systems and gaps in law enforcement that Uganda has struggled to address despite rapid urbanisation.
The 2025 Trafficking in Persons Report by the US Embassy in Uganda identifies districts such as Napak, Abim, Amudat and Kaabong as some of the major source areas for trafficked children.
Human trafficking is no longer confined to vulnerable rural communities. Increasingly, recruitment networks have extended into higher institutions of learning. University students, particularly young women, are being recruited into commercial sex work, online pornography and other exploitative activities. Financial hardship, the desire to maintain expensive lifestyles, peer influence and the relative anonymity of campus life all contribute to this growing vulnerability. However, one often overlooked factor is the limited knowledge many young people have about how traffickers recruit, manipulate and exploit their victims.
Uganda has made commendable progress in establishing legal and policy frameworks to combat trafficking. The Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act (2009), the Children (Amendment) Act (2016), the Kampala Capital City Child Protection Ordinance (2022) and provisions of the Penal Code all criminalise trafficking and the related offences. These laws provide an important legal foundation for protecting vulnerable populations.
The continued presence of child beggars on Kampala’s streets is, therefore, more than a social nuisance. It reflects deeper structural problems, including poverty, unemployment, organised crime, weak child protection systems and gaps in law enforcement that Uganda has struggled to address despite rapid urbanisation.
The 2025 Trafficking in Persons Report by the US Embassy in Uganda identifies districts such as Napak, Abim, Amudat and Kaabong as some of the major source areas for trafficked children.
Human trafficking is no longer confined to vulnerable rural communities. Increasingly, recruitment networks have extended into higher institutions of learning. University students, particularly young women, are being recruited into commercial sex work, online pornography and other exploitative activities. Financial hardship, the desire to maintain expensive lifestyles, peer influence and the relative anonymity of campus life all contribute to this growing vulnerability. However, one often overlooked factor is the limited knowledge many young people have about how traffickers recruit, manipulate and exploit their victims.
Uganda has made commendable progress in establishing legal and policy frameworks to combat trafficking. The Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act (2009), the Children (Amendment) Act (2016), the Kampala Capital City Child Protection Ordinance (2022) and provisions of the Penal Code all criminalise trafficking and the related offences. These laws provide an important legal foundation for protecting vulnerable populations.
Nevertheless, legislation alone has not been sufficient to dismantle the sophisticated trafficking networks operating across the country. Last year, at least nine government officials were charged with offences related to child trafficking, while several other cases remain before the courts. Such incidents demonstrate that trafficking networks are increasingly organised and, in some cases, infiltrate institutions responsible for protecting children.
While strengthening investigations, prosecutions and victim support remains essential, Uganda’s response continues to be largely reactive than proactive. Greater investment is needed in prevention, and education offers one of the most sustainable solutions.
Unfortunately, Uganda’s education system has yet to systematically prepare learners to recognise, avoid and report trafficking risks. Although the competency-based curriculum emphasises life skills and child protection, it lacks structured anti-trafficking content that equips learners with practical knowledge about recruitment tactics, online safety, safe migration, labour exploitation, reporting mechanisms and available protection services.
Schools are uniquely positioned to become the country’s first line of defence against trafficking.
By integrating anti-trafficking education into the existing subjects such as social studies, English, Christian and Islamic religious education, and life education, learners can acquire age-appropriate knowledge and practical skills before traffickers reach them. Teacher-training institutions should also equip educators with the competencies required to identify vulnerable learners, deliver trafficking prevention education and make appropriate referrals.
The writer is a researcher of human trafficking and a child protection consultant at Centre for Transformative Parenting and Research
While strengthening investigations, prosecutions and victim support remains essential, Uganda’s response continues to be largely reactive than proactive. Greater investment is needed in prevention, and education offers one of the most sustainable solutions.
Unfortunately, Uganda’s education system has yet to systematically prepare learners to recognise, avoid and report trafficking risks. Although the competency-based curriculum emphasises life skills and child protection, it lacks structured anti-trafficking content that equips learners with practical knowledge about recruitment tactics, online safety, safe migration, labour exploitation, reporting mechanisms and available protection services.
Schools are uniquely positioned to become the country’s first line of defence against trafficking.
By integrating anti-trafficking education into the existing subjects such as social studies, English, Christian and Islamic religious education, and life education, learners can acquire age-appropriate knowledge and practical skills before traffickers reach them. Teacher-training institutions should also equip educators with the competencies required to identify vulnerable learners, deliver trafficking prevention education and make appropriate referrals.
The writer is a researcher of human trafficking and a child protection consultant at Centre for Transformative Parenting and Research