The State Minister for Youth and Children Affairs, Florence Nakiwala Kiyingi has urged parents to fight child abuse and neglect noting that children are abused in several ways and the traits need to be tamed for the proper growth of children.
She made the remarks while speaking to journalists in Kampala. Nakiwala called for the combined effort to ensure that child abuse and neglect is fought in the country.
“Basically child abuse is in seven different forms and research shows that 98% of all people below the age of 18 have been abuse in one way or another,” Nakiwala said.
She described that one can be in the bed room when his or her child is being abused within the house by uncles, aunts and, many other people without being noticed.
She further called upon the media to sensitise the populace on the laws regarding child abuse and neglect in the country noting that many people are ignorant about this laws.
“We have to sensitise them. To be a parent in Uganda is my role now and to tell you that excuse me, you have gone out with someone, you got pregnant, now it’s a different story, and you are now a mother, listen to me, you are a mother, now the person you are bringing out is a future leader of Uganda,“ she noted.
She said that a lot of changes have been effected to ensure that children rights are not abused.
She called upon the media fraternity to come out and partner with the Ministry in a struggle to ensure that no child is neglected in the country.
“We are performing very well in terms of regulation, what was missing was enforcement, laws are very good but they are in books,” she said.
She noted that most of the shows, shops, supermarkets, local markets are full of children which is child labour as they should be in school.
“You will find that there are early marriages especially in Kasese ,Rwenzori region and Eastern, these children are young mothers, they are children,” she said.