Nabbanja calls for stronger action against child marriage, labour
“We also recognise World Vision Uganda's contribution to policy and legislative reforms, including efforts to combat child sacrifice, child labour, and child marriages,” Nabbanja said.
Nabbanja said continued progress would require stronger local resource mobilisation, greater private-sector and donor engagement, as well as sustained Government leadership.
Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja has called for stronger action to protect Ugandan children from child marriage and labour, saying sustained partnerships between the government and development organisations are critical to improving the lives of vulnerable children.
Nabbanja said Uganda must continue strengthening efforts to protect children from practices that deny them their rights to education, health and a safe childhood.
She made the call on August 26th during celebrations to mark 40 years of World Vision Uganda's operations in the country and also its launch of the five-year strategy, where she commended the organisation for its contribution to reducing child marriages, child labour and child sacrifice.
According to data from Girls Not Brides, 34% to 40% of girls in Uganda marry or enter a union before turning 18. Rates spike significantly higher in certain areas, such as Northern Uganda or Karamoja, where up to 68% of girls may marry before adulthood.
In 2022, Uganda ranked 16th globally for its prevalence rate of child marriage and had a high absolute number of child brides (estimated near 787,000) with poverty as the leading cause.
The Prime Minister said World Vision's work over the past four decades had gone beyond humanitarian assistance to supporting Uganda's wider socio-economic transformation agenda.
She cited the organisation's interventions in education, health, livelihoods, birth registration, school feeding and child protection as important contributions to national development.
She also commended the organisation for promoting birth registration, which she described as a fundamental right of every child, and for expanding access to education and school feeding programs, including among refugee children.
Nabbanja said the achievements recorded in communities where World Vision operates demonstrate the importance of partnerships between governments and development organisations in addressing challenges affecting children.
She said such partnerships had contributed to reductions in household poverty, improvements in child and maternal health, reduced child marriages and better educational outcomes.
World Vision Uganda National Director Jeremiah Nyagah said the organisation's work had reached millions of children and families since it began operating in Uganda in 1986.
He said the organisation had impacted more than 3.1 million children between 2020 and 2025, with interventions aimed at strengthening families and communities rather than creating dependence.
Nyagah said World Vision was now shifting further towards locally owned solutions by investing in Ugandan leadership, supporting Ugandan partners and strengthening community ownership.
“Our localisation agenda seeks to invest in Ugandan leadership, support Ugandan partners, champion Ugandan-designed solutions, and build community ownership structures that endure long after our direct involvement has ended,” he said.
He said protecting children remained central to the organisation's work as it launched its 2026–2030 country strategy.
He said World Vision would also seek to mobilise more local resources as global development funding becomes increasingly constrained.
“We are asking how we can better harness local resources, inspire individual philanthropists and the private and public sectors to unlock the generosity of Ugandans,” Nyagah said.
The new strategy comes as Uganda continues to face challenges in protecting children from harmful practices that can interrupt their education and expose them to health and social risks.
Nabbanja said continued progress would require stronger local resource mobilisation, greater private-sector and donor engagement, as well as sustained Government leadership.
She pledged the government's continued support for World Vision Uganda and other development partners working to improve the welfare of children and communities.
Nabbanja also used the occasion to recount her personal experience with World Vision, saying the organisation's activities had provided her with an opportunity for economic empowerment before she entered national politics.
She said she worked cooking at World Vision functions when she was a district councillor and used the income to support herself financially.
Nabbanja said the experience demonstrated how interventions targeting livelihoods and economic empowerment can have longer-term effects on individuals and communities.