Child rights protection in Teso
YWAFT under takes legislative, policies and programme initiative that seek to protect the rights of all children, especially the vulnerable groups, from abuse, neglect and exploitation.
Report on children
Over the last two decades, since the Government of Uganda ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and subsequently, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, the government, working with her development partners, has made significant efforts to improve the overall protection and wellbeing of children. Among other things, the government has undertaken legislative, policy and programme initiative that seek to protect the rights of all children, especially the vulnerable groups, from abuse, neglect and exploitation.
Children with Disabilities
It is estimated that 29.6% of children in Uganda have disabilities. The major disabilities affecting children include; movement impairment, hearing, vision, speech and mental impairments as well as fits.
There are a number of adverse and harmful traditional practices that affect children in Teso and Uganda as a whole, key among which are child marriage and female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) though data on their prevalence is inadequate.
Sexual violence against children
Sexual violence against children though known to be widespread is hardly reported especially if it occurs within the family context. Defilement is the leading sex-related crime in Teso and Uganda as a whole. In 2011, defilement constituted half of the serious crimes reported for the year (49.5%). According to the Police Annual Crime and Road Safety (PACRS) reports, over a three-year period (between 2009 and 2011), the Police received 22,614 defilement cases. This despite the fact that the majority of cases are not reported to the Police.
Child mobility and trafficking
Though recognized as a growing issue of concern, Uganda has no reliable data on issues related to child mobility and trafficking, including prevalence data on commercial sexual exploitation of children.
A significant number of children in Uganda interface with the justice system as child offenders. According to the Uganda Police statistics, a total of 1774 children were reported as being in conflict with the law in 2011.