Ensuring children’s welfare is best way to fight corruption

I personally believe that the mark of a country's development and the foundation of its future rest in the way that particular country treats its children. The President in his State of the Nation Address at the opening of the fourth session of the 8 Parliament on June 4 highlighted a number of priority issues that his government will focus on in the coming years, top of the list being corruption.

As a child rights activist, my interest was whether the President had anything new to offer the children. Indeed, UPE one of the government's biggest contributions to this country, was highlighted. It was most comforting to note that the President did not only dwell on increased enrollment but was also quick to recognise the high dropout rate currently at 7.8 per cent as well as the low completion rate at 52 per cent.

Much as the President called for a decisive action to address these issues, he didn't explicitly say how the government intends to do this.  The recent immunisation against measles and polio was good, especially in the wake of high infant and high under-5 mortality rate. But, as the country prepares to mark the Day of the African Child on the June 16 under the theme ‘Accelerated Child Survival and Development; Creating a Safe Environment for Children', children who constitute 55.4 per cent of the country's population still face challenges; of the 50,000 children who need access to antiretroviral therapy, only 13,000 receive it; out of the 200 antiretroviral treatment sites approved by the Ministry of Health, only 30 provide pediatric services; 2.7 million children are engaged in child-labour with more than 7,000 in child prostitution. In 2008, 8,635 cases of defilement were reported, more than 200 cases of child sacrifice in the last three years and an unknown number of children that are trafficked across borders on annual basis.

The children of northern Uganda and the Karamoja region live in abject poverty. It is such  scenarios that should concern citizen of this country, the President  inclusive. No wonder in a report titled ‘The African Report on Child Wellbeing 2008', the government of Uganda ranked 21st in the Child-friendliness Index, out of the 52 African governments covered. It's time that the government places children among its highest priority. More resources should be allocated to the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development. The administrative structures in place are compromised by inadequate resources both human and financial.

It is critical that children are put at the centre of budgeting if their rights to survival, protection, participation and development are to be guaranteed. In essence, all sectors should be allocated adequate resources that can enable them deliver the fundamental rights of children.  Mr President, what better way to fight corruption than to invest in ensuring the welfare of today's children such that we shall have a corrupt-free future generation that will propel Uganda to the desired level of development?