3 To promote the adoption and utilization of the Programme of action by government, non-governmental organizations and external support agencies through participation in their planning and resource allocation exercise. 4 To maintain a data base on the situation of children and activities relating to children in Uganda 5 To support the continuing analysis of the changing needs of children and promote discussions of emerging priorities. The challenges facing the NCC include inadequate human, technical and financial resources. There has been a call to restructure the institution, provide it with more resources and equip it to have more power over government, civil society and development actors for children. 1.7.3 The Children Act Cap 59 Part III sub section I (a and b) and part II provide for the roles of Secretaries for Children Affairs right from LC I (village) to LCV (District) levels. These are based at the community level; each village has an LC Council out of whom one is a representative for children. The Secretaries for Children primarily represent the interests of children at the community level. They also ensure the best interests of the child are fulfilled in all matters affecting the welfare of children including education, health, legal matters and planning for development. In the past, the Secretaries for Children and other LCs were trained on children‟s issues by the MGLSD and its partners including FIDA, UCRNN, Save the Children and UNICEF. However, these political leaders are changed through elections from time to time demanding continuous training. 1.7.4 The Child Advocacy Project (1999-2002) National Council for Children in partnership with Save the Children Norway established the Child Advocacy Project in Iganga, Bugiri, Busia, Tororo, Pallisa, Mbale, Kapchorwa, Kumi, Soroti, Katakwi, Moroto, Kotido, Lira and Apac with trained district-based staff to support government officials in the respective districts. This included advocating for the rights and responsibilities of children based on the CRC, ACRWC, the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda (1995) and the Children Act, among the local leaders at sub-county and district levels. The project also promoted child participation and advocacy through Child Rights Clubs in schools in all the 14 districts. It facilitated participatory development using Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) including Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation (PM&E), in the districts of Lira, Soroti, Apac and Mbale. A key input of the project was facilitating child focussed development plans at district and sub-count levels in the same districts. These plans had environment, gender and HIV/AIDS as crosscutting issues for implementation. This project has since been negatively affected by lack of funding. 6