​Transforming Communities in Uganda

For over a decade, Child Protection Teams, set up, trained and supported by Children on the Edge, have been working across slum communities in Uganda, where children are at risk of abuse, trafficking, neglect and exploitation. 

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This low-cost, community-owned model has transformed communities, making them safer for children. 

HOW IT BEGAN

The Child Protection Team model was started in 2012 in Jinja, within the Masese II slum community. 

Child rights abuses here were rampant, and children were subject to abuse, neglect, child trafficking and, in extreme cases, child sacrifice. A majority of parents worked in unlicensed breweries spewing toxic sludge and acrid smoke, creating a lethal environment for children, where many adults struggled with alcohol.

We worked with the Masese II community to create a volunteer Child Protection Team that, within just a few years, eradicated child sacrifice incidents and toppled unlicensed breweries.

By offering microloans to families, the team supported parents to set up alternative small businesses, generating income to send their children to school.
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“We didn’t believe the Child Protection Team at first, when they kept on telling us that
​change was coming, but the area really
has changed for the better.”  
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Justine, Masese II

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Since the success of the pilot, Child Protection Teams have been replicated in a further five slum communities surrounding Jinja.​

TRANSFORMING COMMUNITIES IN UGANDA

Child Protection Teams have transformed Masese I, & III, Loco, Wandago and Mafubira slum communities, making them safer for children. 

 FAMILIES & COMMUNITIES STRENGTHENED

CREATED ACCESS TO EDUCATION

IMPROVED HEALTH & SANITATION

INCREASED HOUSEHOLD INCOME

REDUCED CRIME

“Before, many children couldn’t sleep in their homes, but now I can assure you every child sleeps at home and goes to school the next morning”.

 Child Protection Team member in Masese III​

HOW CHILD PROTECTION TEAMS WORK

1. SET UP AND SUPPORT

• Child Protection Teams are formed with 10 local volunteers elected by their communities, who understand the problems that need to be tackled in their area.

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• They serve as a voice for the children and are trained to uphold rights and tackle abuse and neglect. 

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• They receive support, basic resources and training from Children on the Edge, along with training from other local services, like police, social workers and councillors, who they network with on behalf of their communities. 

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• They meet weekly to plan and discuss issues, and are trained to know when to refer to professional agencies.

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2. COMMUNITY TRAINING

• Child Protection Teams deliver workshops to thousands of local people each year, to help change mindsets and culture. 

• Families learn about risks to their children, their rights, how to care for them, and the importance of sending them to school. 

 

• People are encouraged and supported to keep their homes and communities safe and clean.

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“My house was a battleground, but now things have changed. I now hear my husband cracking jokes with the children, something that was unheard of before. The Child Protection Team works to create peace and harmony where there isn’t any. It’s not just my house, There is positive change among the neighbours and the community at large”.

Margeret - Masese I 

3. EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

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In Loco and Wandago, to tackle gaps in early years education provision we built two preschool centres for children from the poorest households, and ran workshops to help parents understand the importance of education. 

The two centres offer a colourful safe space where 150 young children can access vital support at the most crucial time in their development.

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4. BEING SEEN: PROTECTING CHILDREN

• T-shirts, loud hailers, wellington boots and bikes resource Child Protection Teams to be visible, allowing them to easily access communities in all weathers, and quickly alert people when there is danger.

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• They act as ambassadors for the welfare of children and people look to them for advice, support and intervention in cases of missing children, domestic violence or abuse. 

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In 2019, kidnappers stole Raymond’s three year old daughter from his home. The perpetrators gave up, as the community immediately sounded the alarm, and the girl was rescued. 

Raymond says, “Had it not been for the Child Protection Team instilling a ‘community watch’ for local people, telling us that everyone counts, and that every alarm is for a reason, my daughter would be no more”. ​

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4. BEING SEEN: PROTECTING CHILDREN

Team members are often the first to be notified and report crimes, and their regular physical presence in the community acts as a deterrent.

​​​​As the Child Protection Teams strengthen relationships between the police and the community, more crimes are prevented, reported and dealt with effectively.

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The teams are effective and sustainable because people are empowered to make the changes they want to see in
​their own communities.

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Whilst Child Protection Teams tackled incidents of child sacrifice at grassroots level, we also campaigned for five years at national level for a change in the law, to bring an end to the abhorrent practice. The Prevention and Prohibition of Human Sacrifice Bill, 2020 was finally passed by Ugandan Parliament on the 4th May 2021 and signed into law in July 2021. Communities now have the backing of the law to protect their children and bring perpetrators to justice. 

FIND OUT MORE

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REPLICATING THE MODEL IN KARAMOJA

In 2022, we introduced the Child Protection Team model in a new area - Karamoja, eight hours north of Jinja. ​Here, poverty is rife, and children are at risk of neglect, abuse and trafficking. Those older than toddlers are left to fend for themselves and few children attend school.

Seeing the transformation possible in Masese III, Nsenge Edrine, a Karamojong member of the Child Protection Team there, travelled back to his home village to replicate the model.

Children on the Edge joined him and is now supporting six Child Protection Teams in the Napak district of Karamoja, working with communities and local leaders to bring change. ​

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT WHY WE BEGAN WORKING IN KARAMOJA

Our Child Protection Team model has proven that community owned work brings positive transformation and creates protective environments for the most vulnerable children. 

Find out more about our work with slum communities in Uganda​

Make a donation to support our work building safer communities in Uganda

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