Executive Summary
Children under the age of 18 years constitute 57.4% of Uganda’s 30.7 million people (UNHS, 2009/2010). Despite children representing a significant majority of Uganda’s population, they are the most vulnerable group. Of Uganda’s 31 percent under the poverty threshold, 62 percent are children. The OVC Situation Analysis Report 2010 places the level of vulnerability among children in Uganda at 96 percent. The high level of vulnerability is largely attributed to poverty, HIV and AIDS, general gaps in the national OVC response as well as internal conflicts in some parts of the country. The level and nature of child vulnerabilities and their drivers is further elaborated in detail in chapter three.
In 2004, the Government of Uganda responded to this high level of vulnerability by formulating the National OVC Policy and the NSPPI, among others. Although this effort drew huge interventions, especially by civil society organizations, services provided to OVC were far from being commensurate with the actual needs (SA 2010). The over 4,000 civil society agencies offered fragmented services that were incomprehensive and unsustainable. The report further established that the most supported CPA was education (70%) and health (57%). The least implemented CPA was legal and child protection, while socio-economic, food and nutrition security interventions were poorly managed. In chapter three these issues are dealt with in greater detail.
Following this background and also with the expiry of the first NSPPI in 2010, the NSPPI-2 has been developed. The plan is expected to guide effective and coordinated national responses to prevent and/or alleviate vulnerabilities of children in Uganda over the next five years. This plan is aligned with the international, regional and national frameworks (the National Development Plan and specific plans and objectives of line ministries) for the protection of the rights of the child. The plan also positions OVC response within the national social protection agenda and directs significant resources to service delivery for OVC, a significant diversion from the previous plan which focused attention on system development.
The plan targets 51 percent of the children considered critically and/or moderately vulnerable. Drawing from the findings of the Situational Analysis 2010 and stakeholder consultations, this plan is organized along 7 strategic intervention areas, which have key implications for addressing vulnerability among children in Uganda in a sustainable manner. These are the priority areas for both central and local governments as well as non-state actors. They include; economic strengthening, promotion of food and nutrition security, provision of health, education, psychosocial support and basic care as well as legal and child protection services. Although huge progress has been made over the past 5 years to build systems and structures, strengthening institutional mechanisms will be further pursued to improve and/or maintain capacity for the national OVC response.
Once properly implemented, this plan has the potential to scale up the national response to reach the most vulnerable children with comprehensive, effective and quality services provided across sectors. For this reason, the plan has an integral management and implementation framework under the leadership and technical guidance of the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development. The M&E framework for the plan, which is a separate document has been developed and shall be implemented to enhance accountability at all levels.
