The State Minister for Youths and Children Florence Nakiwala Kiyingi told journalists on Tuesday at the Uganda Media Centre that the funds will be used to rehabilitate, withdraw, trace and resettlement of street children.
Cabinet has approved 5.8 billion shilling for the street children
Strategic Action Plan.
The State Minister for Youths and Children Florence Nakiwala Kiyingi told
journalists on Tuesday at the Uganda Media Centre that the funds will be used
to rehabilitate, remove, trace and resettlement of street children.
In 2012, government halted a campaign, “Back home campaign for Karamoja” until construction
of reception centres like Masulita and Koblin are completed.
Upon completion of construction of the centres, government in June
2018 started a campaign to get street children off the streets of Kampala and
neighbouring areas.
Nakiwala says the funding will be able to expand the program and monitor
progress more efficiently.
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Nakiwala says that the program has registered a success with 725 children taken
off the streets since June last year. She adds that during the exercise, they
liaised with children to understand what they wanted especially in terms of
custody.
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Nakiwala also said that cabinet resolved that all local governments
plan to take street children off the streets in their respective areas. These,
she says would be required among others to formulate by-laws that make it
illegal to give hand-outs to street children or engaging in any acts that
encourage children staying on the streets.
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In June Kampala Capital City Authority-KCCA passed the Child
Protection Ordinance 2019. It is intended to protect children in Kampala from
engaging in harmful activities, such as selling alcohol, which is not covered
by the current legislation.
Once passed into law, anybody found engaging street children in
harmful employment will be imprisoned for six months or pay a fine of two
currency points (about 40,000 shillings).
