Background Information about Uganda

Uganda is located in Eastern Africa and achieved independence from the UK in 1962. The dictatorial regime of Idi Amin (1971-79) was responsible for the deaths of some 300,000 opponents; guerrilla war and human rights abuses under Milton Obote (1980-85) claimed at least another 100,000 lives. Uganda faces real challenges both in addressing corruption and weaknesses in its democratic processes and in reaching a peaceful resolution to a conflict tin the north of the country that has displaced 1.4 million people. Uganda’s population is approximately thirty million. Estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2006 est.).

Uganda is one of the poorest countries in the world, with a per capita income of US$ 280 p.a. In the short term, exogenous shocks, internal budgetary pressures, high population mortality, as well as the insecurity in the North continue to limit the prospects for faster growth. Nine million Ugandans live on less than $1 a day, and most of these belong to households depending on subsistence agriculture.

Kabale district has a high population of 471,783 with a ratio of 86 males to 100 females. Out of these, only 45,757 live in the Municipality and the remaining 426,026 live in the rural areas. The District has a total area of 1,827 square kilometres, out of which the arable land is 1,695 sq km. The district has 109,301 households each with an average of 4.1 persons. The average land area for agriculture is 2.06 hectares or 5.08 acres per household. Agriculture is the main occupation of the population with 86% producing at subsistence level and the rest engaged in commercial agriculture, several wetlands have been drained for agriculture as well as areas of natural forest.

Although the government of Uganda and the other non-governmental organisations have been helping the communities in Kabale District, there is still a high rate of poverty, disease, and limited education. There is still a great need to empower the communities to allow all the citizens to participate in the micro-economy of the district and the country as a whole, for a transformation.

Baseline conditions indicate that the main problem in the area is widespread poverty and vulnerability of target groups. Gender inequalities, high fertility rates, high illiteracy levels and skewed control over resources to women’s disadvantage. These are some of the challenges in the community. The average per capita income in Kabale District is estimated at US$ 150 p.a. while the literacy rate is 60%. Public health care in the district for both the rural and urban populations is provided by only one hospital with other private clinics. The common diseases include Malaria, HIV/AIDS, Diarrhea, Hepatitis A and Typhoid, Tuberculosis and many others.

There are estimated to be eight thousand street children in Uganda, many of which are war orphans. AIDS and HIV are also playing a part in forcing children onto the streets, with around twenty percent of Uganda's population believed to be carrying HIV. It is estimated that almost one million children under fifteen lost their mother or both parents to AIDS – the highest number of AIDS orphans in the world. Furthermore, some of the street children themselves are also infected with HIV or AIDS. The street children spend time, either eating from the garbage bankers or trying to earn an income and frequently becoming addicted to glue, smoking marijuana taking drugs and getting involved in petty theft. In January 2001, the Ugandan Government announced that it would conduct an intensive study on street children in Uganda to investigate how they can be rehabilitated. However, many street children still do not receive any official shelter, welfare, food, health or educational assistance.

In Kabale District the majority of orphans are paternal, living with their mothers whose health and well-being is paramount to the survival of orphans today. However 8 percent of double orphans is attributed to HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS 2002). Many children who are orphaned are forced to live on the streets or under exploitative conditions of labour and sexual abuse. Many live in child headed households where they have to fend for themselves and support their young siblings. Some of these children are infected with HIV/AIDS either through mother to child transmission or through defilement (OVC Policy, 2004).

In Kabale District, 8.3 percent of the total populations are orphans (37,975). Of these, a total of 6,614 (1.4 percent) are orphans who have lost both parents while 44,589 orphans have lost one of the parents (Population & Housing Census Report 2002). The main causes of orphan hood in the District are diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria that lead to the death of parents. Land disputes leading to murder, accidents, and witch craft caused by personal conflicts have also led to the increase of orphan hood in the district. And Like other marginalized groups, vulnerable lack access to productive resources to themselves and their immediate next of kin. In some instances, the orphans are denied their late parents’ property and this has subjected them to absolute poverty.

A total number of 1,061 children don’t know whether they have parents or not. Of those 524 are females and 537 are males. Children with disabilities in the district total to 3,609. (Population & Housing Census Report, 2002) The situation could have worsened since there is no current data.