UGANDA OUTLAWS CORPORAL PURNISHMENT IN NEW LAW PASSED

The parliament in Uganda has finally passed the Children Act Amendment bill 2015 outlawing corporal punishment in schools, homes and community. The law introduced the provision of services to children in care and protection and having access to confidential reporting mechanism. According to a UNICEF report on violence against children, physical violence that includes corporal punishment accounts for 70% of the most dominant forms of violence against children. The passed law also strengthens the institutional mechanism for the promotion of the rights of children through the establishment of the Uganda National Children’s Authority (UNCA). The Authority will be mandated to manage, monitor and coordinate the implementation of all child-related policies and laws, creating inter-sectorial coordination and management of matters related to inter-country and domestic adoption of children. Child rights governance and protection specialist at save the children Margaret Atimango, this is good news after 12 years of waiting. “For the last 12 years, the children of Uganda have had no clear law protecting them. Children's rights which were being violated, as such, included being trafficked out of the country under the guise of legal guardianship and subsequently ending up in unprecedented adoption. Children were also ‘institutionalized’ in child care institutions (Baby and Children Homes) under the guise of care and protection, and issues regarding them were not effectively coordinated or monitored by the Government” Her reaction reads in part. The new law streamlines the provisions of Guardianship, Adoption and Inter-country adoption. The law provides legal guardianship to be granted strictly to Ugandan nationals and repeals legal guardianship for foreigners. The amendment reduces the amount of time required for fostering before adoption from 36 to 12 months and all child care institutions will be approved by the Minister for Gender, Labor and Social Development after careful assessment and ascertaining that the institution meets all requirements as stipulated by the Government