Buganda, UNICEF commit to promoting children's rights

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Buganda kingdom and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have committed to improving the well-being and fulfilment of rights of the 4.2 million children in the region.

The memorandum of understanding between the kingdom and UNICEF aims at promoting children’s health, education, and protection, rooted in Buganda’s traditional value of Bulungi Bwansi. The MOU was signed on November 12, 2025, at the Buganda Parliament (Lukiko) in Kampala city.

A joint statement issued by UNICEF spokesperson Catherine Ntabadde, says the collaboration is founded on the conviction that every child deserves to survive, to thrive, and to fulfil their potential. 

"By blending resources with the Kingdom's deep community roots and cultural authority and UNICEF's authoritative global technical expertise the partnership is designed to generate sustainable, forward-looking positive change for children," the statement reads.

According to Ntabadde, the partnership is linked to the traditional Buganda concept of Bulungi Bwansi (working for the common good), reflecting the core principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Dr Robin Nandy, the UNICEF Representative to Uganda (left) shaking hands with Charles Peter Mayiga, Katikkiro (Prime Minister) of the Kingdom of Buganda. (Courtesy)

UNICEF delegation posing for a group photo with Buganda Kingdom officials. (Courtesy)

At the signing ceremony, Buganda premier Charles Mayiga said: "The way a community takes care of its children is how its future can be determined. A child is the foundation of adulthood, and we see our responsibility as absolute. We value this collaboration with UNICEF immensely because it enables us to comprehensively ensure child’s health and nutrition, keep children in school and protect them from violence".

He added that working with UNICEF will allow the kingdom to immediately extend its efforts across education, immunisation, nutrition and health, securing the wellbeing of the next generation of Buganda.

The commitments

The statement says the MoU establishes four interconnected commitments where joint efforts will focus on issues impacting children and their rights, including:

• Child survival: Scale up immunisation and use Kingdom media to share life-saving information to reduce preventable mortality and malnutrition.
• Quality education: Eliminate barriers for vulnerable children. Focus on Early Childhood Development, launch re-enrolment campaigns, and empower Kabaka Youth Councils.
• Child protection: End abuse, violence, child marriage and adolescent pregnancies. Strengthen birth registration systems and collaborate with traditional leaders.
• Behaviour change and uplifting children’s voices: Shift attitudes by providing platforms for children to advocate for their own rights, recognising them as agents of change; and fighting harmful social practices.
  
  

“This MOU is a promise to the children of the Buganda Kingdom and Uganda. We will be a reliable, transparent, and respectful partner, ensuring every resource invested translates into tangible improvements. Together in making a difference for the children, we are greater than the sum of our parts," UNICEF representative Dr Robin Nandy said.

A joint steering committee will be established to define an action plan to implement the commitments taken through the Memorandum of Understanding, monitor the progress of activities run and document successful models that can be further scaled up and shared, according to the statement.