Over 2.7m Ugandans in child labour

OVER 2.7 million children in Uganda are engaged in child labour, with eastern Uganda being the worst affected.

Programme coordinator of the Rural Development Media and Communications, Hamidu Kizito said the figure reflects a participation rate of 34.4% of the country’s child population.

He said about 54% of child labourers are between 10-14 years of age and that a third of them are below the age of 10.

Mr Kizito said high levels of poverty in the country have increased the number of child workers.

He said the problem is worsened by the HIV/Aids pandemic, which has claimed the lives of many parents, leaving children to earn a living by themselves.

“Children are exploited by being paid less and are subsequently denied opportunities of getting education, thus affecting their future,” he said.

Mr Kizito said it is unfortunate that the children do not have the opportunity to protest such acts.

He said many children exposed to child labour are from poor families or orphaned, making them unable to protest the exploitation.

Mr Kizito mentioned some of the forms of child labour as: child domestic workers, commercial sex exploitation, children in commercial agriculture, children in the informal sector (markets and street vendors) and children in military combat.