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Leaders worried over rising child neglect cases
Survival: In this file photo taken on May 23, 2019 in Uganda's capital Kampala, street children beg on Kampala Road on May 23. Most children end up on the streets due to 'child neglect'. PHOTO/MICHAEL KAKUMIRIZI.
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- Ms Samali Sabano, the Tororo assistant chief administrative officer, blamed the vice on failure by parents to fulfil obligations.
Authorities in Tororo and Butaleja districts have raised concern over the increasing cases of child abandonment in the area.
Mr Jessey Nathan Kalange, the executive director of Streetways, a non-government organisation, said of the 100 children they are supporting in the two districts, 98 per cent of them have been abandoned by their biological fathers due to, among other reasons, poverty.
Mr Kalange said in an interview on Wednesday that if the vice is not contained, the country will soon start lobbying for external support towards resettling abandoned children.
He attributed the rise of abandoned children to underage and forced marriages, which vices he said are rampant in the two districts.
Mr Kalange further advised the government to develop a policy that compels all citizens to take DNA tests and have the results stored in a central database so that it is easy to trace for such irresponsible parents.
Appeal for joint effort
The Butaleja District senior probation officer, Ms Betty Nesihwe, said the rate at which children’s rights are being neglected is worrying.
“We need joint efforts to fight the increasing child abandonment because it has now become a serious problem,” Ms Nesihwe said.
She urged the district leaders to institute stringent measures to ensure that all those who impregnate underage girls and those who abandoned their children are punished.
According to the statistics obtained from Butaleja District, 5,264 underage girls were impregnated between 2019 and 2020 in the area.
Ms Norah Nakyegera, an advocacy officer working with UYAHF, said the government should allow unlimited access to information on reproductive healthcare by the adolescents.
“We are also engaging the government to have youth friendly services, especially sexual reproductive health services, accessible to adolescents to enable them to make right decisions,” she said.
Ms Samali Sabano, the Tororo assistant chief administrative officer, blamed the vice on failure by parents to fulfil obligations.
Pastor Annette Kimbowa of High Life Church Tororo, however, attributed the problem to moral decay.
