Writer: Angella Kasule Nabwowe. PHOTO/FILE/HANDOUT
If you sat with local government representatives from most parts of Uganda and asked them to list human rights violations related to business activities in their areas of jurisdiction, child labour will feature among the top two.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) defines child labour as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and dignity, and affects their development.
ILO further explains that, to be regarded as child labour, the work must be mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children; and interferes with their schooling; depriving them of the opportunity to attend school; obliging them to leave school prematurely; or requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work.
As we continue to celebrate the World Day Against Child Labour that falls on June 12, 2025; we must reflect more on why we are witnessing increasing prevalence of the vice despite Uganda having a progressive legal and policy framework.
According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) National Labour Survey published in 2021, 6.2 million (40 percent) children aged 5-17 are engaged in child labour primarily in agriculture.
This is worrying considering the increased investments in large scale plantation agriculture, notably sugar cane growing and extractives in different parts of Uganda.
Uganda’s Employment Act is clear. A child under the age of 12 years shall not be employed in any business, undertaking or workplace.
Under the age of 14, a child shall not be employed except for light work under supervision of an adult and it should not affect a child’s education.
No employment/work which is injurious, dangerous/hazardous. No employment between 7pm and 7am.
Some parents still struggle with the issue of children engaging in work, especially domestic work or work to supplement family income. The answer to this should be informed by for example hours (timing and length) of work.
A child should not miss school because they are picking coffee. Age and nature of work is a major consideration. Hazardous work is strictly a no-go zone for children.
Uganda also has a National Action Plan Against Child Labour and a National Child Labour Policy. Uganda also domesticated the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) by developing a National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights (NAPBHR).
The UNGPs clarify the different roles and responsibilities that States and companies have to address business impact on human rights.
This is progressive and I would like to commend the government of Uganda under the leadership of the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development (MoGLSD) for the efforts thus far.
But we need concerted efforts. We must do more.
Pillar one of the UNGPs - the State's duty to protect human rights - is a primary obligation that rests on the State. This obligation includes the State preventing, investigating, punishing, and remedying abuses by third parties, including businesses.
Since as a country we already have a good legal and policy framework on child labour, enforcement needs to be strengthened.
Enforcing national legislation and regulations that require companies to respect human rights, labour inspectors to monitor compliance at business premises and issue sanctions when businesses fall short of the labour standards, provide comprehensive guidance to companies on how to meet the standards and require companies to conduct due diligence of their business relationships for example to ensure compliance that there is no child labour in their supply chain.
Uganda is also doing well in terms of staffing for labour officers at the local government level.
In exercise of their mandate, they should inspect workplaces, especially those in the plantation agricultural sector and urban households that are prone to child labour and enforce the zero tolerance to child labour.
Businesses are major stakeholders in the fight against child labour.
Businesses can have profound impact on human rights, both positive e.g jobs creation and service provision and negative impacts e.g employing children.
As elaborated by the UNGPs, businesses have a corporate responsibility to respect human rights.
Civil society has a role to play in contributing towards the elimination of child labour by engaging in research and advocacy, capacity building, monitoring and documentation, and awareness raising.
To step up the efforts to eliminate child labour, we have to boost collaborative efforts between different Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies with development partners and civil society as well as the urgency to look into structural issues that have increased the number of children in child labour like poverty, high cost of basic education and limited scope of social protection programs.
The writer, Angella Kasule Nabwowe, is the Executive Director of the Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (ISER).
