PLA has been implementing activities in Katwe 1 parish, Kampala district that aim at prevention of child labour and protection of child labourers with specific focus on child domestic work. This has been through community empowerment, education and training. Under this project, 110 child domestic workers and children at risk of joining were identified during a social mapping and 45 community members were trained on the problem of child domestic work, legal provisions relating to child domestic work, children’s rights, CDW monitoring mechanisms and the strategies for prevention, withdrawal and protection of child domestic workers. The trained community members have held awareness creation meetings with over 700 other members.

Children have been an integral part of the project implementation and are actively involved in awareness creation through songs and plays and development of information, education and communication materials. They have also participated in project monitoring and in reporting cases of child abuse to PLA and other stakeholders.

In Lira, the child domestic workers have been trained and Peer to peer education is being done by the children themselves. This has seen an increase in the number of child domestic labour cases being reported to the office. PLA has also withdrawn 256 child domestic workers and sent them to school.

Platform for Labour Action has made great strides to alleviate the circumstances that a large number of these children find themselves in. The organization has worked throughout the year to prevent the involvement of children in work that is dehumanizing and harmful to their physical and emotional well being and to rehabilitate them through primary, secondary and vocational education.

  • 227 female and male children have been removed from work they were engaged in, 150 of these were in high risk work environments.
  • 76 of those that were withdrawn were placed in school and provided with the basic scholastic requirements of uniforms, exercise books and pens. 55 child domestic workers received protective services
  • Additional aids such as sewing machines, hand held saws and hammers were also supplied.
  • Mattresses and bed sheets and blankets were also distributed to those most in need
  • 18 of the poorest families received grants for viable and sustainable income generating projects, which would enable them to make basic provisions for their children’s educational needs.