CSOs ask gov’t to change rehabilitation approach of street children

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Civil Society Organizations have asked the government to change its approach of rehabilitating street children.

The call was made on Friday during celebrations held to commemorate the International Street Connected Children day.

Pascal Lutaaya, the Director Mengo Youth Development Link says that government needs to go back to the drawing board and develop a new rehabilitation and resettlement plan to deal with street children.

Hadija Mwanje, the Executive Director of High Sound for Children says that government should only target children who want to leave the streets. She recommends a friendly approach instead of using excessive force.

Robert Ntende, Member of Parliament Bunya South and a member of the Parliamentary Committee of Children says that government should not leave the work of Ugandan Children on streets to NGOs.

Some of the street children who attended the celebrations say that they are willing to get off the streets and go home but not to Kampiringisa Rehabilitation Centre.

The assistant commissioner for Youth and Children Affairs at the Ministry of Gender, Kyateeka Mondo says that the children should not look at going to Kampiringisa as a jail sentence.

“We take these children to Kampiringisa to rehabilitate them. Some of them are found in a state where even if they walked into their parent’s home, they would not be allowed in. If they are not taken to Kampiringisa, they still spend time at homes undergoing rehabilitation.”

Mondo says that at Kampiringisa, they rehabilitate the children by dissuading them of drugs and teaching them how to live with people. They are also given some life skills in a school setting.

Grace Amaru, a police officer attached to Kampala Metropolitan says that force is sometimes necessary especially when dealing with violent children who do not want to leave the streets.

According to study carried out by Retrack Uganda and Dwelling Places in 2017/2018, there are over 15,000 children that are estimated to be living on the streets of Uganda. The highest number of children on the streets are in Mbale.

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