The Government of Uganda (GOU) has focused attention on the problem of orphaned and other vulnerable children (OVC) through a number of policies, regulations, and initiatives. In 2004, the Ministry of Gender Labor and Social Development (MGLSD) developed the National OVC Policy (NOP), aimed at improving the quality of life for poor and vulnerable children, such as children who have been orphaned, children who are living on the streets, children who are at risk of abuse, and children exposed to situations of armed conflict.
However, despite the many efforts to improve the circumstances of vulnerable children in Uganda, policymakers, donors, and program managers still lack comprehensive and up-todate information about their numbers, geographic distribution, characteristics, and needs. Furthermore, documentation of existing programs addressing the circumstances of vulnerable children is limited. To address these needs, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/Uganda contracted the Population Council and its partners, Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) and Mathematica Policy Research, to conduct a Situation Analysis of vulnerable children in Uganda. The Situation Analysis aims to increase the understanding of the scope of the problem of vulnerable children and the response to it, including the full spectrum of core services, in order to facilitate country-wide planning and to inform current and future programming efforts.
