Govt to review law on alternative children care

Apr 30, 2019

Some unscrupulous people habitually take children as slaves, to the city streets to beg for money, and later collect the proceeds

The government is to review the strategic plan for alternative care for children as a means of reducing costs involved in looking after children.

The principle probation and welfare officer in the ministry of gender and social development, Shafic Butanda, said the government is in the final stages of coming up with a new strategic plan to reduce the cost of dealing with children.

"The government spends up to sh4.5m in three months to rehabilitate a single child from the streets of Kampala. Today, the issue of removing children from the streets of Kampala has become complex that we have tried to involve all the concerned authorities but in vain," said Butanda.

Butanda made the remarks on Tuesday during a meeting on child rights and development.

The meeting was convened by gender ministry, SOS Children's Village Uganda, and civil society organisations (CSOs).

Butanda observed that some unscrupulous people habitually take children as slaves, to the city streets to beg for money, and later collect the proceeds.

He disclosed that these children are sold at Arapai Market in Soroti district and that some of the children are sold off in Napak district by individuals who should be monitored.

Butanda explained that the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has advised the government to develop an impact assessment to guide on looking after children and also to come up with a new law.

He encouraged CSOs to keep way children aged 18 years or more from children's homes because it is not in conformity with the law. Butanda said if these are left in the homes, they could be a disturbance.

 cross section of participants attending the meeting organised by the ministry of gender in ampala hoto by ilfred anyaA cross section of participants attending the meeting organised by the ministry of gender in Kampala. Photo by Wilfred Sanya

 

Dora Musiimire a child protection specialist at Childfund International said some people dealing with the children are rude and do not care about the children but mind about earnings.

Musiimire emphasised that one of the impediments to the execution of duty is stress, brought about by poor remuneration especially the caregivers. She said that systems should be put in place at workplaces to monitor why people change their attitude and do things differently.

Musiimire advised that the early warning of stress should be taken into account for caretakers. She said that people need to understand the nature of their work before they take on jobs.

"Sometimes, people go in for jobs without getting to know what it requires but carry out work not in a realistic way. People should have a supportive team to share their work rather than letting people live in fear at workplaces," she said.

She added that people should change from looking at their earnings but should look at their work as a service to the community.

The SOS Children Villages Uganda national programmes advisor, Lillian Ssengooba, advised that all CSOs taking care of the children should verify the children's document before taking them in.

Ssengooba said not all caregivers have the best knowledge of looking after children and that they need training.

"People seeking jobs should be given written contracts so that they get to know what is required before they take on appointments," said Ssengooba.

Speaking on behalf of the community, Peninah Nakandi, encouraged the ministry to train more sign language interpreters to rescue children found in captivity or who have had their rights abused.

"When the culprits are taken to courts, the cases are dismissed to due lack of an interpreter, leaving the culprits to walk away freely. If we trained our own interpreters, it would be cheaper than hiring those available today," said Nakandi.

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