Speaker Rebecca Kadaga

The Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga has expressed fear over the lack of identity of the children living in foster homes.

Kadaga made these remarks at a breakfast meeting organised by the SOS Children’s Villages Uganda at the Kampala Serena Hotel, on Wednesday, 21st September 2016.

The meeting was organized for chief executives of different corporate organizations in and around Kampala, to support the campaign dubbed, “Every Child Deserves A Chance; Be that Chance”.
Referring to the recent registration for the National Identity Cards, Kadaga wondered how the children in the SOS Villages would register if they did not have any idea of who their parents and families were.
“It is our duty to ensure that these children have an address. Every child has a right to a name, family, home and identity. What will happen to these children at SOS if they need to register for the National IDs?” Kadaga asked.
The Speaker said that there is need to intervene and support the SOS Villages in Uganda, and urged all the CEOs present to make their contributions.
“I will ask the Parliamentary Commission to identify where we can make an intervention. I urge the corporate organisations to not only spend on advertising but to also support such causes,” she said.
The National Director SOS Children’s Village Uganda, Olive Lumonya said there is need to have corporate organisations in Uganda supporting the children as support from foreign donors is dwindling.
“Over 65 percent of the support is from individual donors outside Uganda. What have we as Ugandans done? We have called you as CEOs here today to chat a way forward,” Lumonya said.
She revealed that SOS has supported over 60,000 children in the 25 years of its existence in Uganda.
“We are currently supporting 7,236 children in Uganda. Most of these are from orphanages and childrens’ homes,” she added.
The International Director of SOS for East and Southern Africa, Wordofa Dereje revealed that there are 1.5 million children in Uganda without parental care.

He added that the campaign is aimed at having domestic Ugandan businesses supporting the SOS Villages, which have greatly impacted on the lives of these vulnerable children.
“I urge you to invest in the children and young people who are the future engines of development. Investing in children and young people is smart business,” he said.

SOS Children’s Villages Uganda is a non-governmental organisation that has been working in Uganda since 1991. Currently, the organisation has four Centres in Gulu, Fort Portal, Kakiri and Entebbe catering for orphans and vulnerable children.