A new inclusive program to empower young mothers with essential economic survival skills has been unveiled by child rights’ activists. The program, known as the Gold Star, will provide training in areas such as tailoring, bakery and catering, hairdressing, and entrepreneurship.
Hadijja Mwanje, the founder of the High Sound for Children (HSC) organization, which looks after defiled children, especially girls, revealed that teenage mothers cannot look after themselves and their babies because most of them have just dropped out of school and never worked before.
She added that since leaders command a lot of respect in their respective areas, they are the right people to speak up against defilement and its effects on society and the children.
Mwanje said this while speaking to journalists on August 12, 2024, during the preparation for the launch of the program focusing on educating young girls, especially teenage mothers. Hadijja explained how the Gold Star program will be able to help the teenage mothers.
“We have launched a program that is going to help teenage mothers deal with life. This area has been affected so much, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, because the number of teenage mothers increased; however, when we started interacting with these teenagers, their major complaint has been day-to-day survival because they are chased from home and the defilers don’t take any responsibility either,” Mwanje said.
HSC engages the community through various initiatives aimed at promoting child rights and addressing issues affecting children and young mothers. Some of the key ways they accomplish this include: community dialogues, the Break the Silence Project, media clubs in schools, support for teenage mothers, and emergency support during crisis. Through these efforts, HSC actively fosters a sense of community involvement and responsibility towards the protection and empowerment of children and young mothers in Uganda.
According to the 2022 Uganda Police Force Annual Crime Report, a total of 12,780 cases of defilement were reported, with 12,470 female juvenile victims and 310 male juvenile victims. The number of reported defilement cases has remained high in recent years, with 13,613 cases in 2019 and 14,230 in 2020. However, prosecution and conviction rates remain low, with only about three in 10 rape cases and four in 10 defilement cases reported to police end up in court.
