The government urges mass action to end child labor

The government has called on various stakeholders to work together in the fight against child labor in Uganda.

Apollo Onzoma, Deputy Commissioner for Industrial Relations at the Ministry of Gender Affairs, decried the increasing cases of child and forced labor in the country’s supply chains.

Speak with MonitorOnzoma noted that “although Uganda has ratified international treaties and adopted child labor laws and policies, enforcement remains weak due to a lack of resources, corruption and limited inspections.”

He further noted that Uganda has committed to Sustainable Development Goal 8.7, which aims to eradicate child labor by 2025.

“The labor sector is very crucial for national development, but to realize this promise to eliminate child labor, we need collective action,” Onzoma stressed.

In 2015, Uganda introduced a law banning child labor. According to Onzoma, this can include slavery, child trafficking, debt bondage, forced labor, children in armed conflict and children working in illegal activities.

In addition, the 2006 Labor Act sets 16 years as the minimum age for employees working commercially, while children aged 14 may also only be employed for light work under the supervision of an adult over 18 years of age.

Jacqueline Banya Acayo, the National Program Officer at the International Labor Organization project – the Accelerating Action for the Elimination of Child Labor in Supply Chains in Africa (ACCEL-Africa project) called for the implementation of laws aimed at protecting children.

She also reiterated the need for reforms to the National Action Plan (NAP) for the Elimination of Child Labor (2020/2021 – 2024/2025), which originally aimed to create an enabling environment for the prevention, protection, rehabilitation and reduction of child labor risk of child labor.

“The law does not sufficiently prohibit commercial sexual exploitation because offering a child for prostitution and using, offering and benefiting from a monetary or in-kind transaction involves the sexual exploitation of a child for the production of pornography and pornographic performances are not allowed. criminally prohibited,” she explained.

According to a 2021 Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) Dissemination of National Labor Force Survey (2021), 43 percent of persons aged 5 to 17 years were involved in child labor, including household chores, while 40 percent of child laborers was involved in child labor over the age of 5. 17 years were involved in labor, excluding household duties.

The survey further found that 68 percent of children aged 5 to 17 were involved in some form of economic activity, while 47 percent engaged in other livelihood activities. About 42 percent worked in subsistence agriculture and 11 percent in other forms of work.