The country has up to 80 district local governments and the Kampala City Council and the City Division Council that constitutes the local government structure. The District Council and the sub-county councils make up the rural local government structures.2 Each of these districts has a technical officer called the District Probation and Social Welfare Officer (PSWO) who together with other staff at lower levels are in-charge of child welfare and legal protection matters. The Council structure has one of the 9 members a Secretary for Children Affairs. 1.2.2 Demographic Characteristics The 2002 Census reveals that Uganda had a population of 24.7 million in that year. The total fertility rate as estimated by the UDHS, stood at 6.9, largely unchanged over the past ten years and much higher than in neighbouring countries (e.g. Kenya: 4.7; Tanzania: 5.63). Consequently, the population growth rate was about 3.4% per year between 1991 and 2002, which puts Uganda among the countries with the highest population growth rates in the world, with specific implications for child rights and welfare. The population is young with persons from 18 years below constituting about 56% of the total population. A fifth of the population are persons below five years of age, while one fourth are of primary school going age (between 6-12 years). According to these projections, Uganda‟s population is expected to reach 93.25 million people in 2025. This projection is based on considerable fertility decline from presently about 7 to only 2.9 in 2040-2045. Achievement of this is dependent on overall economic development in the coming decades, but above all efforts of government and policies that will support fertility decline. The central question investigated here is whether this rapid pace of population growth is likely to affect growth of per capita incomes and thus poverty reduction in Uganda. Based on insights from the theoretical and empirical growth literature, this note argues that the high rates of population growth will severely undermine efforts to maintain and boost economic growth rates. It will also make the achievement of universal primary education virtually impossible for coming decades and will seriously compromise efforts to reduce maternal and child mortality rates and improve health conditions and services. 1.2.3 The Economy of Uganda Uganda has experienced a strong economic growth over the past decade. Real GDP growth at market prices to date has averaged over 6.5% per annum since the early 1990s. The determinant of Uganda‟s economic growth has been identified as the relative improvement in security, macroeconomic stability, and improvement in terms of trade resulting from coffee price boom in the mid-nineties. Industrial production has seen the highest growth per annum averaging 10.4%. The service industry has also been averaging a growth rate of 7.5%. Agriculture has been averaging 4.4% growth per annum4. Uganda‟s economic policy that largely focuses on the growth sector expects increased growth to boost the economy and improve people and children‟s lives enabling them to meet their social needs. 1.3 Measures Adopted to Give Effect to the Provisions of the Charter According to the decentralisation policy, functions of a central government department include policy and legislative development, quality assurance (including monitoring and supervision) inspection, training, technical advice and guidance in their respective area of mandate. The Children Act operationalises the provisions of 2 Local Government Act 1997 see UBOS, 2001 4 Poverty Eradication Action Plan 2004/5 Report Page 31. 3 2