What we do

Globally, UNICEF is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to advocate for the protection of children's rights, to help meet their basic needs, and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. In Uganda, UNICEF began its operations in the early 1960s. Our work is guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and strives to establish children's rights as enduring ethical principles and international standards of behaviour towards children.

Situation of children in Uganda:

• A child born in Uganda today can expect to live to the age of 63. The under-five mortality rate has declined from 151 per 1,000 live births in 2000 to 64 per 1,000 live births in 2016.
• The proportion of women who received assistance from a skilled provider during delivery increased from 39 per cent in 2000 to 74 per cent in 2016.
• Neonatal mortality fell between 1988  and 2006  but has stagnated at 27 deaths per 1,000 live births since and is responsible for 42 per cent of all under-five deaths.
• Steady progress has reduced the national prevalence of stunting among under-fives from 33 per cent in 2011 to 29 per cent in 2016. However, this has not led to a large reduction in the overall number of stunted children in Uganda, due to the rapid growth in population.
• Teenage pregnancy is an important contributor to school dropout and a top cause of death among adolescent girls. One in 4 girls aged 15 to 19 years have begun childbearing. This number has increased because of COVID-19 related school closures.
• Birth registration for under-five children in Uganda stands at an approximate 57 per cent, of which some 24 per cent of under-fives having a birth certificate.
• Around 4 out of 10 young children (aged 3 to 5 years) attend early childhood education - a marked improvement from 2011, when only 2 out of 10 attended such facilities.
• Similarly, 8 out of 10 children aged 6 to 12 years attend primary schools and more than 1 in 4 attend secondary school.  
• The net primary school attendance rate is 83.3 per cent for boys and 84.1 per cent for girls; 83.2 per cent for rural areas and 86.1  per cent for urban areas.
• Uganda has made significant progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS especially in the last 10 years. An estimated 1,400,000 individuals are living with HIV, of which 98,000 are children.
• Access to safe water increased from 57 per cent in 2000 to 78 per cent by 2020.
• Fifty-six (56) per cent of Uganda’s children experience multidimensional deprivations and a low standard of living.
• With an approximate population of 42.9 million and an annual population growth of 3 per cent, the population is expected to double in 23 years, reaching 85.8 million by 2044. Approximately 1.6 million babies are expected to  be born every year. 

Advancing the rights of children in Uganda

UNICEF works to ensure that all boys and girls in Uganda, especially the most vulnerable and disadvantaged, realize their rights and have an equal opportunity to survive and thrive. 

Through its current country programme, which was designed in partnership with the Government of Uganda, UNICEF supports national efforts to accelerate the realization of children’s rights and progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals for children in line with the Government of Uganda’s Vision 2040. Moreover, the programme is aligned with the Third National Development Plan for 2020–2025 and forms an integral part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Uganda 2021–2025 as well as the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework. 

The current Government of Uganda-UNICEF country programme 2021-2025 focuses on: education, child protection, social protection, health, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health, and HIV/AIDS, nutrition, and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). UNICEF also prioritizes cross-sectoral themes that contribute to holistic results for children, including early childhood development, adolescent development, social behaviour change, and advocacy. 

While working at national scale, UNICEF also uses a focus-district approach that targets those districts with the highest prevalence of child deprivation or vulnerability to external shocks, including refugee movements, disease outbreaks, and climate-related impact. In partnership with the government, UNICEF has identified 29 districts  that meet this criteria, which UNICEF supports through three Zonal Offices and the Kampala Head Office. UNICEF works with each focus district on planning and budgeting, coordination, evidence-generation, and cross-sectoral collaboration and uses these experiences to inform programming in other districts throughout the country, while strengthening humanitarian and development linkages.

UNICEF is the custodian or co-custodian for 17 SDG indicators

UNICEF is responsible for seven global Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators and co-custodian for a further ten. In this role, UNICEF supports countries in generating, analyzing, and utilizing data for these indicators for all their citizens. This includes leading methodological work, developing international standards, and establishing mechanisms for the compilation and verification of national data, and maintaining global databases.