Aisha, from our Child Protection Team in Uganda becomes Secretary for Women's Affairs

Aisha, one of our Child Protection Team members in Uganda has recently been elected as Secretary for Women's Affairs for the local Jinja authorities. This is the first time someone in her area has been elected, who has such a broad knowledge and understanding of women’s and children’s issues. 

Our local partners in Uganda have a strong focus on ensuring opportunities for women. Many women, like Aisha, are involved in the running of our Child Protection Teams. 

Aisha has been volunteering as the Chairperson of the Masese II Child Protection Team for over six years. Working with our local partners, Children on the Edge Africa, we support five slum communities around Jinja to create protective environments for their children through these Teams. They are made up of 10 elected and trained local volunteers work closely with their communities.

What do the Child Protection Teams do?
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• Build relationships, identify problem areas and provide a link between people living in the slums and the local authorities to make sure they are aware of the services that are available to them. ​
  
  
• Facilitate workshops and training sessions on an extensive range of child protection and social issues, and offering individual support to vulnerable families. Workshops include family planning, women’s rights and domestic violence.​

 

• ​Resource parents and carers to look after their families with sustainable, safe incomes. This is done primarily through a micro-loan programme for the most vulnerable households. 

Child Protection Teams have become the ‘go-to’ for their communities because of the dedicated work they accomplish on behalf of vulnerable children. As a result, they have quickly become the first port of call not only with residents but also with the local authorities. Lost children are often brought to the teams by local people when found wandering, sometimes miles from home. 

​As Secretary for Women's Affairs, Aisha is now leading a team of five people and is confident that becoming the Secretary for Women’s Affairs will strengthen the work of the Child Protection Team in her community even further.

Aisha in action

Aisha said:  “Those who hide after violating the rights of women and children are now more afraid, because they know am the community member’s representative as both a Child Protection Team Chairperson and a council leader, recognised by local government". 

Aisha puts this knowledge down to working with Children on the Edge, saying “I have taken this office with lot of hands on experience of both women’s and children’s issues because Children on the Edge Africa embraced our Child Protection Teams as their very own right from the start. They gave us training and helped us with networking. There was a tremendous improvement in terms of our case management”.

We're delighted for Aisha and can't wait to hear about her progress in the role.

Read more about our work with slum communities in Uganda.​ and how we're bringing vital change. 

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