Lead ministry responsible for coordinating and overseeing all aspects of care reform and alternative care for children in Uganda. The lead department for care reform in the MGLSD is the Department of Youth and Children Affairs under the Directorate of Social Protection. The MGLSD is also responsible for the development and implementation of social protection policies and programs to support and protect families. The ministry hosts several coordination structures related to care reform. For example, the National Child Protection Working Group was established in 2009 as a coordination forum for agencies and government ministries/departments working in the child protection subsector with a mandate for child protection.

Responsible for the provision of universal, quality, and accessible basic education, and support for quality early learning program development and registration.

Responsible for planning, resourcing, and monitoring public expenditures on childcare and protection allocations approved by the Cabinet.

Responsible for the provision of health and nutrition programs, for parenting support programs, and for early learning support for parents of children between the ages of zero and two years through health facilities and home visits by mother and child community workers. The MOH is also responsible for conducting health and safety inspections of residential care facilities every six months.

Courts of law make decisions about the removal of a child from a family, about the most appropriate and beneficial care and protection placements, and the protection of children’s and their caregiver’s rights and responsibilities.

Houses the Child and Family Protection Unit in the police force, which is responsible for handling cases of child abuse, neglect, and children in conflict with the law, among other matters. The Unit is responsible for background checks on children, providing referrals or counselling services to children, community policing, and placing children in residential care facilities.

The Community-Based Services Departments under the MOLG are mandated to plan, manage, and deliver welfare services to children and other vulnerable groups, working in collaboration with other key government departments represented at the district level, including the District Education Office, the District Directorate of Health Services, the police, district/resident state attorneys, and district courts. Responsibility for overseeing childcare and child protection services in the Community-Based Services Departments lies with the district PSWOs. They are assisted in their duties by CDOs and assistant CDOs at the subnational level. Probation and social welfare officers are mandated to remove children in need of protection and place them in residential care or foster care; assist children to be reunited with their parents or guardians; and prepare reports for the court to help determine whether adoption would be in the best interests of a child, among other duties. Local government is responsible for ensuring that approved children’s homes meet minimum infrastructural health and safety standards through regular inspections and monitoring.

Responsible for protecting children against maltreatment and prosecuting cases of violence, crime, abuse, and neglect of children

Responsible for birth registration and the provision of identity documents. The NIRA is also mandated to maintain the registry on adoption.

Mandated to maintain registers on legal guardianship.