Uganda, Uganda Child Rights NGO Network, ILO-IPEC, and many national and local NGOs have conducted training of stakeholders on child rights. 1.6 Difficulties in Implementing the Charter 1.6.1 Registration of Birth and Death Uganda has had a national law governing births and deaths since the 1970s, today the law is known as the Birth and Death Registration Act (Cap 309). The Registrar General, Birth and Death Registration, has also revised the existing BDR policy document and it is awaiting approval by Cabinet. With support from UNICEF and Plan International, a comprehensive strategy for scaling up birth and death registration (BDR) in Uganda has been developed. In addition the Government enacted the Uganda Registration Service Bureau Act (URSB) Act (Cap 210) in 2004. URSB has developed independent work plan for 2006/2007 to scale up BDR in 11 districts. It should be noted that BDR had in the past not been included in the Justice, Law and Order Sector (JLOS) Investment Plan and budgets; however in June 2005 the JLOS sector review recommended that BDR be included in the budget. Currently, implementation of BDR is weak, however, government, with support from partners such as UNICEF and Plan International has revitalized BDR. Through this effort, a total of 29 districts have community-based birth and death registration (BDR) initiatives. Out of these, 23 districts are supported by UNICEF while 6 are supported by Plan International. Full implementation of BDR will ensure children are protected from evils such as early marriages and sexual offences. It would also enable parents to know the right age for children to start school to avoid challenges of drop out due to age. However, since 1995 attempts have been made to revive the civil registration system, but so far very few successes has been 1.7 Commitment to Observance of Child Rights The Government of Uganda is committed to protect, promote and fulfil the realization of child rights. This is reflected in the many legislative and programmatic endeavours. 1.7.1 Appointment of a State Minister in charge of Children and Youth Affairs To fulfil its commitments to the child, government of Uganda has established and appointed the Minister of State for Children and Youth Affairs within the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development. The Minister is charged with ensuring that government programmes for children are implemented on schedule and advises the Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development on the progress in this area. This Office is supported by the technical positions of Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner for Youth and Children in the MGLSD who are now squarely in-charge of technical matters to do with children. The Commissioner, with the support of the Principal Probation and Welfare Officer supervises and supports the Probation and Social Welfare Officers at the district level. They also have counter parts in the districts, the Community Development Officers (CDOs) and the Assistant Community Development Officers (ACDOs). 1.7.2 Establishment of the National Council for Children (NCC) The NCC was created as an interim body in 1993 and later by statute No. 16 of 1996 (now the National Council for Children Act, Cap 60 in the revised laws of Uganda; to coordinate and monitor implementation of international, regional, national and local instruments on the rights and welfare of children in Uganda. Its objectives include: 1 Acting as a body through which the needs and problems of children can be communicated to government and other decision –making institutions and agencies in Uganda 2 To coordinate and provide direction to all persons involved in child-based activities in Uganda 5