Uganda | Our Work | Save the Children International

What we do

We have worked in Uganda since 1959 and have programmes throughout the country. We work in partnerships – with communities, the government, civil society and the private sector – to deliver programmes that have a lasting impact, inspire change and uphold children’s rights. Our work supports long-term development and humanitarian emergencies and bridges the gap between the two.

Last year (2023) our work in Uganda directly reached 1,202,454 people, including 768,238 children, and indirectly benefited a further 2,506,456 people. We focus on these thematic priorities: Education, Child Protection, Health and Nutrition, Child Rights Governance and Child Poverty.

Save the Children's Dr Pierrot holds a child while he receives his measles vaccine in the DRC

Trésor LWANGO / Save the Children

Education: We enable young children access early education (both Early Childhood Development and Primary), which allows them to develop literacy and numeracy skills. We also support children whose was impact by COVID-19 through of Catch-up Clubs. These Clubs address the economic and protection barriers to returning to and staying in schools and tackle the learning loss of vulnerable children ages 8-13 by providing after-school catch-up learning opportunities (foundational literacy, numeracy and social emotional learning) led by community volunteers.

The approach integrates elements from other programmes that have successfully demonstrated rapid learning gains and builds on Save the Children’s existing expertise in community-based learning, child protection and child poverty programming. Together, these activities provide the learning boost and social support that millions of academically vulnerable students need to catch up on learning and stay in school.

Child Protection: Children in Uganda face various forms of violence. Half of the world's children experience violence every year and a child dies every 7 minutes as a result of violence. To end this epidemic, we work with partners including the Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development to prevent violence from happening and respond efficiently by strengthening families and caregivers to protect children from violence, supporting the implementation of laws and policies, working with governments and other partners to develop strong child protection systems, changing attitudes and social norms, listening to and involving children, building social work workforces and providing services for children.

Health and Nutrition: Save the Children in collaboration with partners like Ministry of Health has mobilized efforts towards achieving the Goal 3 of the Sustainable Development Goals. In doing so, we have worked closely with communities and a wide range of partners to ensure that children under five do not die from preventable causes. We have a long-standing history of success in maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health and nutrition programming, and we are known as a global leader implementing ‘state of the art’ interventions that contribute to significant progress in these areas.

Child Rights Governance: Our interventions in Uganda focus broadly on budget advocacy, influencing policies and legislation and supporting meaningful child participation in governance matters that directly impact the lives of children and young people.

Child Poverty: We are working to lift families out of poverty, so they can support their children to learn, survive and be protected'. Children are more than twice as likely as adults to be living in extreme poverty. 44% of children in Uganda are suffering from multi-dimensional poverty with rates reaching 57% for some households with three or more children.

Sarah, 13, solving a math problem on the blackboard at school

Sarah, 13, lives with her mother, brother, and sister in a rural area of Uganda called Wakiso. Her family practices small-scale farming and grows crops like cassava, sweet potatoes and matooke. Sarah benefits from Save the Children Sponsorship programming. Save the Children has equipped the schools and students with books and learning materials. Sarah also participates in the catch-up clubs run at her school where she can improve on learning areas. Save the Children in Uganda

Education

Maria,38, poses with her son Lokut after receiving two goats.

Save the Children, with support of Save the Children Korea, is running an innovative nutrition and livelihoods project for children and mothers in North East Uganda. The GOATS project is about ‘Giving Ownership and Assets To prevent Stunting’ in the region where poverty levels are the highest in the country. The project aims to reduce food insecurity and reduce stunting amongst children under five, for agropastoralist families in the region. In these communities, 35% of children under five years are stunted due to chronic malnutrition and 28% of children in this age group are underweight. Community members formed groups of 10-15 participants and received goats which they will pass on to each other through the ‘send-a-goat’ approach. The goats are intended to produce milk which mothers will feed their children to supplement breastmilk. Recipients received training on goat husbandry including housing, feeding, watering, management of disease and parasites as well as breeding and marketing basics. Additionally, the women received seeds that they have used to start up kitchen gardens to boost the consumption of highly nutritious vegetables in their homes. The seedlings that were given include cowpeas, amaranth (doodo), onions and pawpaw fruit trees. James Mbiri / Save the Children International

Child Poverty

Mothers receive nutrition training at a health centre in a refugee settlement in West Nile, Uganda. David*, 10 and mother of four, Agnes*, 33 live in a refugee settlement in West Nile, Uganda. David's favourite food is Sweet potatoes. He usually has breakfast of black tea and sweet potato, lunch of sorghum with beans or peas, and super of the same. He says, 'feeling hungry makes you feel bad'. David's mother Agnes*, 33, receives a cash transfer from Save the Children and World Food Programme, to help mothers afford healthy food for their families as many women no longer have an income due do Covid-19 lockdowns and restrictions. David's younger sister Mary*, 22 months old, also receives nutrition services, and has her growth and health regularly monitored in a clinic supported by Save the Children.meals a day, other times just one. But we try to give the children three meals whenever possible.Õ Esther Ruth Mbabazi/Save the Children

Emergency Response

Children engage in activities at a Child friendly space, Kyangwali Refugee Settlement, Uganda.

Save The Children, Child Friendly Spaces provide children with a safe and inclusive environment to learn, play and be protected. We’re also providing psychosocial support to children and their families to increase their resilience and ability to cope. In October 2022, HRH The Princess Royal as Patron of Save the Children, visited our work overseas for the first time in five years. Visiting an Education Centre in Kyangwali Refugee Settlement, Uganda to see the school’s Catch-up Club activities following one of the longest school closures due to the pandemic. The trip also provided the opportunity for The Princess Royal to visit one of our Child Friendly Spaces and to attend a Save the Children lunch with local staff, donors, partners and supporters at the Sheraton Kampala Hotel. Esther Ruth Mbabazi / Save The Children

Child Protection

The Kindness Circle at a Primary School in Wakiso, where children are taught to be kind to each other, Uganda.

The Kindness Circle is one of the interventions Save The Children are running to address School Related Gender Based Violence SR - GBV especially Child to Child (bullying). In line with SCI Programming, we also support a Community Reading Club that is linked to the school in the school community. This Reading Club is aimed at facilitating continued learning for children on weekends and during the holidays. In October 2022, HRH The Princess Royal as Patron of Save the Children, visited our work overseas for the first time in five years. Visiting an Education Centre in Kyangwali Refugee Settlement, Uganda to see the school’s Catch-up Club activities following one of the longest school closures due to the pandemic. The trip also provided the opportunity for The Princess Royal to visit one of our Child Friendly Spaces and to attend a Save the Children lunch with local staff, donors, partners and supporters at the Sheraton Kampala Hotel. Esther Ruth Mbabazi / Save The Children

Child Rights Governance

Sister Racheal and nurse Maria attend to Baby Charlotte*, 2 days old, in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Charlotte*, a 2 days old baby, receives life-saving specialised care in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Naguru General Hospital in Kampala, Uganda, which is equipped and supported by Save the Children. Born at a local health centre in Kampala, Baby Charlotte* faced immediate complications that led to her admission to the NICU. Her arrival brought challenges, as she required CPR due to breathing difficulties, prompting her transfer to the hospital for specialised care. In the NICU, Charlotte* received crucial warmth and life-sustaining oxygen therapy in an incubator, provided by Save the Children, along with intravenous antibiotics and essential IV fluids. Her condition improved within 24 hours, but she continued to rely on oxygen support and round-the-clock care in the incubator, with her journey to full recovery ongoing. Esther Ruth Mbabazi / Save the Children

Health and Nutrition

Child Protection

Every child has the right to be protected from violence and live free from fear, neglect, abuse and exploitation. Yet three quarters of children in Uganda experience some form of violence. Most children (68% of boys and 59% of girls) have experienced physical violence, while one in three girls and one in six boys suffer sexual abuse. The scars can last a lifetime and often result in mental health issues and psychological distress during adulthood.

Strengthening laws

Effective child protection needs strong laws and policies in place. In Uganda there are many positive steps taken on paper - for example there is a national strategy to end violence against children in school, and child marriage, corporal punishment and other forms of abuse are illegal. But in reality these laws are rarely enforced or resourced. Many people and officials are unaware of them. Perpetrators often go unpunished. Save the Children advocates for greater resourcing to implement and enforce these laws, and we are developing localised and child-friendly versions to make them more accessible to communities.

Stopping violence in schools

A child learns best when they feel safe and protected. Corporal punishment is illegal in Uganda but is still widely practiced - 90 percent of children say they first experienced physical violence at school from a teacher. Many teachers and parents think violence is necessary to instill discipline, but it has a hugely negative impact on learning and a child's wellbeing.

We work with teachers and schools to promote alternative positive discipline methods built on mutual respect and participation, and set up children's councils to come up with more effective and appropriate disciplinary measures. We also work with schools, officials and the local communities to monitor and address other forms of violence in schools, such as sexual abuse and bullying.

Protection for children affected by conflict

Uganda hosts almost 1.4 million refugees and 60 percent are children. Most have fled brutal conflicts, and many have witnessed terrible violence or lost friends and family. We run Child-Friendly Spaces (CFS) which provide them with a safe place to play, learn and socialise with new friends, under the supervision of specialist caregivers. They can also access other services such as mental health and psychosocial support. Our teams of caseworkers identify the most vulnerable children and make sure they get the support they need – such as children who arrive alone or separated from their parents, orphans, children with disabilities or those in need of counselling.