By Peter Ssebulime
Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) in conjunction with the United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF) have launched the first Urban Social Protection program for Adolescent girls.
The program is intended to ensure that girls are protected up to adulthood, receive education and training, as well as empowerment for them to achieve their goals.
This will be done through a network of peer mentors, engaging them through education, training and referrals to support services, and enabling them to pursue better opportunities for their future through a small cash transfer.
While gracing the occasion, the Lord Mayor Ssalongo Elias Lukwago said that “The program design is informed by evidence because Kampala is estimated to have over 4 million people, of which the young and youth comprise almost half of the population.”
He added that “The biggest problem Kampala is facing is street children who have become dangerous to the residents. However, we have come up with a program to solve it and at the same time we want to address the problem of high school drop out.”
Lukwago noted that “In Kampala 54% of residents live in slums with inadequate housing, poor sanitation and limited access to basic services including education and employment. Adolescents and young people in urban areas face threats especially girls and young women who are at risk of sexual violence and HIV/AIDS and are more likely to drop out of school than boys.”
It is on the same occasion that the Acting Executive Director of KCCA Eng. Andrew Kitaka revealed that the program identifies participants by targeting communities they live in and schools they attend (a geographical categorical targeting mechanism), through an analysis of the levels of multidimensional child and household poverty, school drop out rates and household level vulnerability.
Harriet Mudondo, the Director Gender at KCCA noted that “The program is aligned with the government of Uganda Vision 2040, National Development Plan and National social protection policy and is supported by the ministry of Gender Labour and social development.”
