Uganda is the country with the youngest population in the world. According to the 2002 population census figures from Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), 78.4% of the population was below the age of 30 years, of this percentage, 22.3% (5.4 million) was aged between 18-30 years and 49.4% (12 million) aged less than 15 years. Currently (2012), about 6.5 million (21.3%) Ugandans are between 18 – 30 years of age of which 2.4 million are estimated to be orphans aspiring for various forms of services in terms of education, employment and family formation. According to figures from Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), in 2012 alone, close to 1.7 million babies were born. The number of young people (0-14 years of age) in Uganda is projected to grow to 7.7 million by 2015. This is the challenge which the country needs to address urgently. It is documented in the base line survey report that the recent trend to adopt children from Uganda is increasing at an alarming rate. While other countries close international adoptions or tighten their systems and processes, Uganda is becoming a ‘popular’ choice for sourcing children for international adoption. The 400% increase in adoptions from Uganda from 2010 to 2011 outlines the growing demand for Ugandan children. Domestically, Ugandans fear that children leaving the country are leaving to be exploited or misused. The aim of this audit was to assess how the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development (MOGLSD) is handling the current adoption process of children leaving in a bid to protect their rights and welfare.
