Uganda - IOM and the Institute for International Co-operation and Development will tomorrow (15/11) organize a youth dialogue on child migration to raise awareness of child trafficking in Karamoja in Uganda.

In Uganda, child victims of trafficking can be found begging on the streets of most urban centres. They come mainly from Karamoja, a remote region in the northeast of the country. Children are typically forced to beg from morning to night, malnourished and abused. Few are ever rescued or reintegrated.  

Some 150 students from high schools in sub-counties with a high prevalence of child migration are expected to attend the youth dialogue. Some 19 per cent of households in these sub-counties reported having at least one child who migrated to an urban area, according to an IOM report. 

The dialogue is expected to improve the students’ understanding on safe migration and how to prevent child trafficking. At the dialogue IOM will encourage high schools to integrate migration issues into their curricula.

Since 2011, IOM Uganda has changed the lives of 179 trafficked Karamajong children forced to beg on the streets of city centres. The youth dialogue on child migration from Karamoja is supported by the Royal Norwegian Embassy.

For more information, please contact Anna Tapia at IOM Uganda. Tel.+256 772 709 918. Email:atapia@iom.int

 For a copy of the report, please go to http://uganda.iom.int/publication_categories/counter-trafficking/

 To watch videos on IOM’s work with trafficked children in Uganda, please go to: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaRlD4mI3zQr3g5PkxoPqmQ