Background
Idi Amin Dada’s tyrannical regime (1971-79) was responsible for the deaths of at least 300,000 Ugandans. Guerrilla war and human rights abuses under Milton Obote (1980-85) are estimated to have claimed at least another 100,000 lives. The rule of Yoweri Museveni since 1986 has brought relative stability, but a 21 year-long insurgency by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) led by Joseph Kony, has resulted in the displacement of at least 1.3m people and the recruitment of child soldiers.
The Economy Today
Uganda has made great strides in instituting much needed political and economic reforms. These have created a more stable, growth-orientated, and liberalised, political-economic climate. In spite of this, Uganda remains one of the world’s poorest countries, with approximately one-third of the population living below the poverty line and a per capita income of approximately £250 per annum – an average of 68p per day, per person.
Population Increase
Uganda has one of the highest population growth rates in the world: The country’s current population of 31,367,972 is projected to explode to 130 million by 2050, a nearly five-fold increase. Women in Uganda have an average of 6.81 children, compared with a global average of 2.6.
HIV/AIDS and other diseases
HIV prevalence in Uganda is 4.1% with approximately 940,000 people living with HIV and a further 1.2 million children having been orphaned by AIDS. As a consequence life expectancy in Uganda is just 52 years old, compared to 79 years in the UK. And it isn’t just HIV/AIDS that is a killer – in 2006, there were a suspected 10.6 million cases of malaria.
Deaths among young adults leave behind millions of orphaned children, placing a burden on the community and the state. In 2005 UNICEF calculated there are 2.3 million known orphans in Uganda – that’s the same number of people as live in Manchester, UK.
Institutional Care
There are an estimated 40,000 children growing up in institutional care in Uganda. (UNICEF) In 2008, after increased reports in the media about abuse and exploitation of children living in in children’s homes, an investigation was carried out by the Government on the status of the 212 homes known to the government. Their findings demonstrated that overall, the standard of care was very poor and only 20 homes had a clear statement on the arrangement for resettlement. As a result throughout Uganda in 2010, out of 7,893 children in institutional care only 73 children were resettled into families which is less than 1%.
