SECTION I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background The Government of Uganda ratified the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child on August 17 th 1994. This report presents a review of the measures both legislative and administrative taken by the Government to harmonize its laws, policies and practices with the general principles and standards which give effect to the provisions of the Charter spelt out under Article 43. It also provides a comprehensive assessment of the progress in the implementation of the Charter and the challenges encountered in doing this. This report supplements and compliments the reports on implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child submitted by Government to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. This initial report is based on the guidelines for reporting to the African Union Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and brings experiences from the civil society, child oriented development actors including UN agencies, central and local government. The report was prepared through a consultative process the entail looking at annual and progress reports from all actors, filed consultations and consultative and validation workshops. 1.1.1 Literature Review A review of existing information relevant to the reporting requirements included land policy documents, reports by government, civil society organisations and other development actors. Other sources of information included principal legislative texts (including reforms) administrative and other relevant instructions as well as detailed statistical information. 1.1.2 Field Survey In addition to review of exiting information on children from local and central government ministries and departments, as well as from other development actors, the process also carried out a survey in 8 northern, north-eastern and western districts of Uganda. These were Kitgum, Kapchorwa, Soroti, Lira, Tororo, Bundibudgyo, Wakiso, Kampala and Gulu. Their selection was based on Government and NGOs operations, thematic relevance, regional representation as well as issues arising from the observations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. It was also an attempt at verifying and validating information provided in the literature. The field consultations obtained information through focus group discussions at grass roots level, key informants‟ interviews with key decision policy makers at district and Ministry levels, visits to relevant places. 1.2 Country Profile 1.2.1 Public Administration The public administration system of Uganda is a decentralised system of governance that transfers power from the Central Government to the local governments through its political leaders to manage their own development, working closely with the civil servants. The Central government guides development programming, budgetary allocations, providing policies, technical support monitoring and evaluation. The Parliament, the national legislative body and one of the wings of central government, consists of representatives elected by people in the districts. They are required to regularly consult with their constituents in order to provide effective representation on decisions tabled before them. The Parliament in Uganda has a coalition of MPs who have formed the Uganda Parliamentary Forum for Children committed to highlighting child related issues and pursuing them in order to fulfil children‟s rights. 1