The African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child extends its
greetings to the Government of the Republic of Uganda and wishes to express its
acknowledgement for submitting its initial Report on the implementation status of the
African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.
The Committee congratulates the State party for being represented by an important
high level inter ministerial Delegation led by the Minister of State for Youth and
Children Affairs to discuss the Report during its fifteenth session held from 15-19
March 2010, in Addis Ababa Ethiopia.
At the conclusion of the review of the Report, the Committee is honored to send to
the Government of the Republic of Uganda the following Observations and
Recommendations:
Article 1: OBLIGATION OF STATES PARTIES
The Committee congratulates the State party for adopting the Legal Texts and other
Measures for protecting and promoting the rights of the child, however efforts remain
to be made in the sector of popularization of the Charter.
Article 2: DEFINITION OF CHILD
The Committee observes that even though the law on the child recognizes the child
as any person under 18 years of age, in the employment sector, the age of work on
the other hand varies from 14 to 16 years according to the type of work and with
regard to the law, the age of penal responsibility is set at 12 years. Concerning
marriage, the Committee notes that the Constitution sets the age of marriage at 18
years, but there are laws on customary marriage, African marriage and the law on
the marriage of Moslems which sets the age of marriage at 16 years or below.
For a better protection of the child, the Committee recommends to the State party
the harmonization of these texts with the definition of the child as stated in the
African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.
Article 3: NON-DISCRIMINATION
The Committee points out discriminations against handicapped children but also
certain discriminations based on gender with practices which lead girls to stay at
home to look after their little sisters and brothers or the denial of pregnant girls or girl
mothers to continue their schooling compromising their right to education.
The Committee recommends the State party to raise the awareness of the
population about giving up socio cultural practices or other behaviors which are
harmful to the rights and welfare of the child.
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