Situation analySiS

Situation analySiS of Children in uganda 2015In terms of preschool and primary schooling, Uganda has achieved some noteworthytargets, with no gender gap in access to ECD centres and gender parity at primary level.But other inequalities remain. In 2011, the proportion of children who had never attendedschool was more than twice as high in the bottom wealth quintile as in the top quintile.Most ECD centres are in urban areas and the Central region, contributing to geographicas well as socioeconomic disparity in access. Despite solid progress in increasing primaryenrolment, there remain major inequalities in access between regions and depending ona child’s social identity (children with disabilities and orphaned children are often unableto attend school). Primary school enrolment rates are lowest in the Northern region and inrural areas, with the gap increasing at secondary school level. Girls are also slightly morelikely to have never attended school or to have dropped out. Moreover, of the 1.22 millionchildren with disabilities in Uganda, only 5% are able to access education within an inclusivesetting in regular schools (Riche and Anyimuzala, 2014).Target cohort lens: adolescent girls (10–18 years)Gender inequalities have strong impacts on the lives of adolescent girls, who continue toexperience multiple vulnerabilities at the individual, household and community levels.This has serious implications not only for their own wellbeing and development, but alsoincreases the likelihood that these vulnerabilities will be transferred to any children theyhave.Evidence from Uganda shows that girls are more likely to experience poverty and marryearly (almost half of women aged 20–49 were married before they were 18) (UBOS and ICFInternational, 2011). Rural girls fare worse than their urban counterparts in many respects– for example, rural adolescent girls are more likely to be pregnant during their teenageyears and are also more likely to have been victims of defilement.Adolescent girls are also at greatest risk of contracting HIV and other sexually transmittedinfections (accounting for two-thirds of all new HIV infections). Data for 2013 show thatchildren under 15 account for 11% of all HIV cases in Uganda, with HIV and AIDS now thesecond most common cause of death among adolescents (UNAIDS, 2014).At secondary level, the enrolment rate for girls lags behind that for boys, and girls are morelikely to drop out early. Schools lack the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilitiesadolescent girls need, which partly explains why many girls skip school for several dayseach month during menstruation. But community/family attitudes also play a strong role,with poorer families prioritising their sons’ education, considering that girls do not neededucation to fulfil their future roles as mothers and that investing in girls’ education willonly benefit their future husband’s household. Studies also suggest that girls’ education isundermined by a range of gender bias and discrimination in schools, textbooks, curricula,and in teachers’ attitudes towards girls, with a shortage of female teachers as role models.While some responses to these challenges may be technical in nature, it is important to14 ExECUtIvE SUMMary