The Government of Uganda has instituted a legal and Policy framework by enacting a number
of laws and formulating a plethora of policies all geared towards protecting children against
abuse and specifically protecting children against sexual related offences for example the
National Strategy to End Child marriage and teenage pregnancy 2022/23-2026/27, Child Policy,
National Education sexuality framework. Furthermore, besides Uganda’s Constitution,
Parliament of Uganda has enacted a wide range of laws that explicitly provide for the
protection of children against sexual violence. These include the Penal Code Act, Cap 120 as
amended, the Children Amendment Act, 2016, the Anti-Pornography Act, 2014 among others.
However, besides the delayed enactment of both the Marriage and Divorce bill and the Sexual
Offences Bill into law, there are existing latent gaps in Uganda’s current legal and policy
framework. These shortcomings have inadvertently weakened the campaign against child
marriage.
Parliamentarians play a key and strategic function in the fight against violence against child.
Besides the cardinal duty of legislation, Member of Parliament, appropriate budgets, monitor
Government programs and play an oversight role over all Government agencies. This places
MPs at a vantage position to holistically influence all due processes that protect children
against sexual abuse and children. MPs must therefore benchmark and adopt best global and
regional practices to enact comprehensive laws that can adequately support efforts aimed at
protecting children against child marriage in Uganda.
With support from Equality Now ,Joy for Children- Uganda organized a one (1) day capacity
building workshop for Members of Parliament on laws/frameworks and policies that align with 2020 UN General Assembly Resolution on child and early and forced marriage (A/RES/75/167). Some of these frameworks include the National Strategy to end child marriage and teenage pregnancy (2022/23-2026/27), the Southern African Development Community (SADC) model law.
The main purpose of the workshop was to draw strategies that can be used by members of parliament to review the existing legal framework and draw from different parts of the Model law to amend specific existing laws in order to align with the standards set by the policies.
Objectives of the Workshop
- To enhance the participants’ understanding of the existing frameworks/policies that
address child marriage in Uganda.
- To assist the MPs appreciate the existing gaps in Uganda’s legal framework on issues of
child marriage.
- To seek support from parliamentarians about the urgent need to prioritize the issue of
child marriage in Uganda
Outputs
- Enhanced Participants’ knowledge about the existing legal and policy frameworks that
address child marriage.
- Increased support from the Members of Parliament to address the issue of child
marriage
Outcomes
- Improved laws and policies that provide for the protection against child marriage in Uganda
- Increased budgetary allocations to child protection issues and line ministr
