What if your home was
a rubbish skip...?

Homeless children
in Uganda

“Mankind owes to the child the best that it has to give....”
1924 Declaration of the Rights of the Child.

The over 10,000 homeless children of Uganda, between 14 and 20 years of age, are part of the large group of children worldwide who, despite international pledges and advocacy, are still denied the privilege of a childhood free of discrimination and hardship, a childhood which grants them access to education, love and protection, mental and physical well being.

Many of Uganda’s abandoned children are the victims of family breakdown, often accelerated by multiple marriages, mental and/or physical abuse, neglect and alcoholism, and have run away from their homes to seek a better life and safety. Others are the orphaned victims of HIV/AIDS and other diseases, or have suffered the trauma of seeing parents and other relatives killed during years of violent civil strife. The harsh realities of life on the streets of Kampala, where the children may face violence, hunger and malnutrition and possible mistreatment by adults and law enforcement agencies, does little to strengthen their scope for physical and emotional well being.

Life on the streets also bars the children from equipping themselves with the academic, practical and relational skills that they require for full integration into their social, economic and political environment. Once on the streets, children can thus be trapped in a life-long cycle of poverty, lack of education, income generation and social opportunities, ill health and social vulnerability.