Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Uganda (Ratification: 2001)

The Committee notes with regret that the Government’s report has not been received. However, it takes note of the report of the Technical Advisory Mission (the Mission) on Child Labour Issues that was carried out in Uganda in July 2009.

Article 3. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (a). All forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery. Abductions and the exaction of forced labour. The Committee had previously noted that article 25:1 of the Constitution of Uganda stipulates that no person shall be held in slavery or servitude and that section 25:2 states that no person shall be required to perform forced labour. It had noted that the Penal Code punishes as offences abduction (section 126); detention with sexual intent (section 134); and abduction for the purpose of reducing to slavery (section 245). Moreover, section 5 of the Employment Act of 2006 states that anyone who uses or assists any other person in using forced or compulsory labour commits an offence. Finally, section 252 of the Penal Code provides that any person who unlawfully compels any other to labour against their will commits a misdemeanour.

However, in its previous comments under Convention No. 29, the Committee had noted that the armed group Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) abducted children of both sexes, forcing them to provide work and services as concubines, these alleged activities being associated with the killings, beatings and rape of these children. The Committee had noted that, according to the report of the United Nations Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in Uganda of 7 May 2007 (Secretary-General’s report of 2007) (S/2007/260, paragraph 10), the figures from 2005 suggested that as many as 25,000 children may have been abducted since the onset of the conflict in northern Uganda in Kitgum and Gulu districts. However, the total number of abductions had significantly reduced since its peak in 2004. The total number of abductions in January 2005 was estimated to be approximately 1,500, significantly reducing to 222 over the first six months of 2006. Since September 2006, there had been no confirmed reports on the abduction of children in Uganda by the LRA. Moreover, the peace talks between the Government of Uganda and the LRA had officially opened on 14 July 2006 and the parties had signed a formal cessation of hostilities agreement in August 2006, which was extended until 30 June 2007. It was initially expected that the prospects of the signing of a peace agreement would mean a potentially significant increase in the number of children released by the LRA. However, despite repeated pleas by various stakeholders, the LRA had not released children from its ranks.

The Committee notes that, in its concluding observations for the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict of 17 October 2008, the Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed concern over continued abductions of children living in border regions by the LRA, to be used as child soldiers, sex slaves, spies and to carry goods and weapons (CRC/C/OPAC/UGA/CO/1, paragraph 24). The Committee on the Rights of the Child was further concerned over the inhuman and degrading treatment of the abducted children. Moreover, the Committee notes that, according to the report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in Uganda of 15 September 2009 (Secretary-General’s report of 2009), the LRA has not knowingly operated in Ugandan territory since the cessation of hostilities in August 2006. Over the past four years, however, the LRA, including a substantial but unknown number of Ugandan children associated with its forces, has increasingly moved into neighbouring countries to establish additional bases; and children and their communities in the Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic have been the victims of attacks that have claimed hundreds of lives and resulted in the disappearance of hundreds of children. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 233 abductions of children by the LRA were documented by child protection partners between 1 December 2008 and 30 June 2009. The Secretary-General further indicates that efforts to sign a Comprehensive Peace Agreement with the LRA failed and, as a result, the LRA has increasingly become a regional actor. Since December 2008, LRA elements, operating in small groups, reportedly conducted attacks against several localities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing civilians, burning houses and abducting children and adults. In total, it is estimated that more than 1,000 civilians have been killed and several hundred abducted by the LRA since it increased its violent activities in 2008.

The Committee therefore once again expresses its deep concern at the situation of children abducted by the LRA and forced to provide work and services as informants, porters, hostages, as well as becoming victims of sexual exploitation and violence. It observes that, although national legislation appears to prohibit abductions and the exaction of forced labour, this remains a serious issue of concern in practice, in particular in the context of renewed violence and conflict. In this regard, the Committee once again recalls that, by virtue of Article 3(a) of the Convention, the exaction of forced labour from children is considered as one of the worst forms of child labour and that, by virtue of Article 1 of the Convention, member States are required to take immediate and effective measures to secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour as a matter of urgency. The Committee strongly urges the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to eradicate abductions and the exaction of forced labour from children under 18 years, as a matter of urgency. In this regard, it requests the Government to take immediate measures to ensure that thorough investigations and robust prosecutions of offenders are carried out and that sufficiently effective and dissuasive sanctions are imposed in practice. It also urges the Government to take measures to cooperate with the neighbouring countries and accordingly reinforce security measures, particularly on the common borders with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic and Sudan, with a view to bringing an end to this worst form of child labour.

Compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict. The Committee had previously noted that, according to the Secretary-General’s report of 2007 (paragraph 5), Uganda is among the countries where parties to armed conflicts – the Ugandan People Defence Force (UPDF), the local defence units and the LRA – recruited or used children and were responsible for other grave violations. According to this report, it was estimated that, notwithstanding various peace agreements, up to 2,000 women and children may still have been held by the LRA within its ranks and had not been released. Regarding children recruited by the national military forces, the Secretary-General’s report of 2007 indicated that the UPDF recruited young boys to serve in its armed forces, especially within the local defence units, which are UPDF auxiliary forces. The report of 2007 also indicated that during recruitment, age verification was rarely carried out. After training, many of these children were said to be fighting alongside the UPDF. Although the Government of Uganda incorporated, in 2005, in the Uganda People’s Defence Forces Act, a provision prohibiting the recruitment and use of child soldiers, the lack of effective monitoring at the local level led to children continuing to join some elements of the armed forces. However, according to the Secretary-General’s report of 2007, the Government had committed itself to strengthening the implementation of the existing legal and policy frameworks on the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict. Moreover, in December 2006, the UPDF agreed to undertake inspection and monitoring, including to verify age during the recruitment process. Furthermore, the Uganda Task Force on Monitoring and Reporting (UTF) had committed itself to working with the UPDF and the local defence units to ensure immediate and appropriate follow-up to remove any person under 18 years of age found within the UPDF and local defence units, including through referral to appropriate child protection agencies.

The Committee notes that, according to the Secretary-General’s report of 2009 (paragraphs 3–7), on 16 January 2009, the Government of Uganda and the UTF signed an action plan regarding children associated with armed forces in Uganda, which obligates the Government to prevent and end the association of children under the age of 18 with armed auxiliary forces; appoint focal points at the highest level of the Government on the implementation of the action plan; provide access on a regular and ad hoc basis to the UPDF and auxiliary facilities to the UTF to monitor and verify compliance; and promptly investigate allegations of recruitment and use of children and ensure the prosecution of perpetrators. Furthermore, the action plan identifies time-bound activities relating to children associated with the armed forces in Uganda. Among others, the measures include verification visits to all UPDF facilities and regular access to all relevant UPDF units by the UTF. In compliance with the action plan, the Government of Uganda and the UTF agreed upon a series of visits by the UTF to UPDF facilities in northern Uganda in early 2009, with a view to verifying that no persons under the age of 18 were present within, or recruited into, its ranks.

The Committee notes with satisfaction that no case of recruitment or use of children by the UPDF or its auxiliary forces has come to the attention of the UTF. Throughout its visits, the UPDF extended excellent cooperation to the verification team. Furthermore, the UTF observed the UPDF recruitment process in the northern districts of Uganda from 12 to 14 February 2009. It was noted that age requirements for recruitment into the UPDF, as set forth in existing laws and regulations, were strictly observed and followed by UPDF officers in compliance with the UPDF internal circular of February 2009 containing instructions on recruitment criteria. The Committee notes that, according to the Secretary‑General’s report of 2009, the UTF will nevertheless continue to monitor compliance of the UPDF within the action plan framework to ensure that continuous efforts are made to prevent the recruitment and use of children and that the implementation of the action plan continues.

However, the Committee notes that the LRA, whose leadership originates in Uganda and a significant number of whose forces are also from Uganda, remains listed on the Secretary-General’s annexes to his reports on children and armed conflict because of the continued practice of recruitment of children within its ranks. Although LRA violations against children were originally reported solely under Uganda country situation reporting, the geostrategic situation of that group, which is expanding its armed activities to the wider region, has prompted the request of a strategy for increased regional joint capability to monitor and report on cross-border recruitment and use of children by the LRA. The UTF has therefore been engaged in consultations with the Resident Coordinator of the United Nations Country Team in Uganda, the United Nations Children’s Fund headquarters and regional offices, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations missions in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, on appropriate steps to establish a subregional strategy to monitor and report on grave child rights violations committed by the LRA in the region.

The Committee welcomes the measures taken by the Government and the positive results it has registered with regard to the UPDF. However, it expresses its concern at the situation of children who continue to be recruited for armed conflict by the LRA. The Committee refers to the Secretary-General’s call upon the Government of Uganda to prioritize the protection of children in its military actions against LRA elements, either on Ugandan territory or in joint operations in neighbouring countries (S/2009/462, 15 September 2009, paragraph 28). The Committee therefore urges the Government to intensify its efforts to improve the situation and to take, as a matter of urgency, immediate and effective measures to put a stop in practice to the forced recruitment of children under 18 years of age by the LRA. In this regard, it urges the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that a strategy for increased regional joint capability to monitor and report on cross-border recruitment and use of children by the LRA is adopted as soon as possible. It also requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that persons who forcibly recruit children under 18 years for use in armed conflict are prosecuted and that sufficiently effective and dissuasive penalties are imposed in practice.

Article 7, paragraph 2. Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (b). Providing the necessary and appropriate assistance for the removal of children from the worst forms of child labour and for their rehabilitation and social integration. Children who have been affected by armed conflict. The Committee had previously noted that the orphans and vulnerable children policy includes interventions to mitigate the impact of the conflict on vulnerable children, especially by providing them with psychological support and with health-care services. It had also noted that a number of measures had been taken in order to rehabilitate children affected by conflict: (a) the psychological support programme for the care of children in conflict areas; (b) the creation of the National Core Group for Psychological Support, responsible for advocacy against abduction and conflict-related child abuse; and (c) the project implemented by Save the Children from Denmark and Sweden, in collaboration with the UPDF and Gulu Support Children Organization (GUSCO) with the aim of training officers in the UPDF’s Child Protection Unit and promoting the observance of rights of children affected by armed conflict. Moreover, according to the Secretary-General’s report of 2007 (paragraph 62), interim care centres, known as reception centres, were established in the north of Uganda in order to receive formerly abducted children, including those referred by the UPDF Child Protection Unit.

The Committee notes that, according to the mission report, the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) made interventions for child victims of armed conflict, as well as abducted children, and specialized schools have been built in the north of the country to give support and rehabilitate these children. Indeed, the Committee notes that, according to the report on Education Needs Assessment for Northern Uganda of February 2008 (ENA report) prepared by the Education Planning Department, the MoES has, among other things, provided psychosocial back-up support by training 50 trainers in psychosocial training, helped with the demobilization of 53 child soldiers, supported eight reception centres for former child abductees. The MoES has also constructed 27 learning centres with 114 classrooms in Kitgum, Pader and Lira for 6,000 displaced primary school children, as well as a primary boarding school at Laroo in Gulu with a capacity for 1,000 pupils.  Furthermore, the ENA report indicates that many education provider organizations have contributed to the interventions of the MoES with a view to provide an interim response to the needs of northern Uganda in terms of education. The Committee also notes that, according to the Secretary-General’s report of 2009, the action plan regarding children associated with armed forces in Uganda signed by the Government of Uganda and the UTF on 16 January 2009 covers different areas of activities, including preventing the recruitment of children under 18 years for use in armed conflict and releasing and reintegrating underage recruits. The Committee strongly encourages the Government to continue its efforts and take effective and time-bound measures to remove children from armed conflict and ensure their rehabilitation and social integration. In this regard, it requests the Government to provide information on the number of children under 18 years of age who have been rehabilitated and reintegrated into their communities through these measures, in particular through the action of the MoES and through the activities undertaken under the action programme regarding children associated with armed forces in Uganda.

The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.