Uganda leads anti-child labour campaign in Africa
Sep 03, 2008
UGANDA has been undertaking a four-year pilot project aimed at preventing child labour among AIDS orphans in sub-Saharan Africa.
By Anthony Bugembe
UGANDA has been undertaking a four-year pilot project aimed at preventing child labour among AIDS orphans in sub-Saharan Africa.
The $3m (about sh5b) project, funded by the US department of labour, started in 2005 and is to run till December 2008 in Uganda and Zambia.
The project involves sensitising policy makers and supporting the Government and non-governmental organisations on matters related to children affected by HIV/AIDS.
“Many child labourers have become vulnerable to HIV/AIDS infection,†said Akky de Kort, the project’s chief technical adviser in Uganda.
More than one million people in Uganda have died of HIV/AIDS, leaving behind at least two million orphans. Some children have been forced to look for means of survival.
According to the 2006 demographic and health survey, close to 1.5 million children are involved in child labour.
Rose Ssenabulya, the director of the Federation of Uganda Employers, said the children were exposed to many risks.
Ssenabulya was opening a regional training workshop on child labour among AIDS orphans in sub-Saharan Africa on Tuesday, at Speke Resort Munyonyo in Kampala.
Delegates from Uganda, Zambia, Ghana, Cameroon, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania attended the workshop.
In 2007, president Yoweri Museveni launched a national child labour policy.
The president said children should not be employed in commercial agriculture and domestic work. Many children are employed as house maids.
UGANDA has been undertaking a four-year pilot project aimed at preventing child labour among AIDS orphans in sub-Saharan Africa.
The $3m (about sh5b) project, funded by the US department of labour, started in 2005 and is to run till December 2008 in Uganda and Zambia.
The project involves sensitising policy makers and supporting the Government and non-governmental organisations on matters related to children affected by HIV/AIDS.
“Many child labourers have become vulnerable to HIV/AIDS infection,†said Akky de Kort, the project’s chief technical adviser in Uganda.
More than one million people in Uganda have died of HIV/AIDS, leaving behind at least two million orphans. Some children have been forced to look for means of survival.
According to the 2006 demographic and health survey, close to 1.5 million children are involved in child labour.
Rose Ssenabulya, the director of the Federation of Uganda Employers, said the children were exposed to many risks.
Ssenabulya was opening a regional training workshop on child labour among AIDS orphans in sub-Saharan Africa on Tuesday, at Speke Resort Munyonyo in Kampala.
Delegates from Uganda, Zambia, Ghana, Cameroon, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania attended the workshop.
In 2007, president Yoweri Museveni launched a national child labour policy.
The president said children should not be employed in commercial agriculture and domestic work. Many children are employed as house maids.