The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Ministry of Gender has renewed licenses for 31 children’s homes, some of which had been closed for lack of adequate facilities.
The ministry closed up to 150 homes in a four-month exercise that began in September 2018. The exercise was as a result of a Cabinet decision that called for the closure of all illegal homes on grounds that some of them were used to traffic children out of the country.
Many of the homes were reportedly found operating in tiny, filthy rooms, with not enough space to accommodate the number of children that they had taken in while several others did not have licenses. However, the homes have now been cleared and declared fit to look after children.
During the review, undertaken by specialists from the Ministry of Gender, homes were examined to find out whether they had adequate accommodation facilities, stable financing and solid structures. So far the ministry has cleared 41 of the closed facilities. The first cohort received their licenses in January 2019.
Some of the children’s homes that received their licenses today include; Dwelling Places, Masuliita Children’s Home, Agape Children’s Home, 100 per cent Children’s Home, Talitha Koum, SOS Children’s Village Entebbe and Kakiri.
State Minister for Youth and Children Florence Nakiwala Kiyingi cautioned the directors of the cleared homes to desist from using children as money-making ventures.
Kiyingi says the owners of the homes should work towards relocating the children back to their communities instead of keeping them for years. According to the children rehabilitation policy, children’s homes are supposed to be places of short stays.
Maureen Muwonge from Dwelling Places one of the homes that received their license today says receiving certification will enable them to admit more children in need.
According to the ministry, all licensed homes are expected to have a district representative as part of the management team plus an officer from the Gender Ministry. All homes must be registered as Non-Government Organisations or body corporate with a certificate of incorporation.
Data from the gender ministry reveals that there are currently more than 100 children’s homes that have been cleared to operate.
****
URN
