Kitgum district joined the rest of Africa in celebrating the Day of the African Child 2025, with leaders, teachers, children, and community members rallying for greater investment in education and child protection.
The 2025 celebrations were held under the continental theme: “Planning and Budgeting for Children’s Rights: Progress Since 2010.”
The theme encourages African governments and organizations to review how children’s rights have been integrated into national planning and budgeting over the past decade, to measure progress made, and to identify remaining gaps.
The celebrations in Kitgum attracted hundreds of children, parents, civil society actors, and government officials. The event featured lively performances, poems, songs, and drama, through which children voiced their concerns about challenges such as school dropouts, child labor, and early marriages.
Speaking during the event, Rev. Capt. Lawrence Nyekorach, the Vicar of Kitgum Town Parish, challenged the church to play a more active role in child development.
“The church leadership must include children in their programming and activities. If we neglect the young generation, we risk losing the future of both the church and society,” the vicar said.
Representing the Mayor of Kitgum Municipality, Latigo W. Calvin, the Secretary for Education, Health and Community-Based Services, raised concern over the persistence of early marriages and teenage pregnancies.
“Cases of child marriage and early pregnancy are still rampant, standing at about 30 percent. Parents must take full responsibility in guiding children to follow the right path, beginning with taking them to school,” he said.
Latigo said focus on Children’s Rights, is one of the reaffirming commitments to ensure access to education, health, nutrition, and protection.
He urged governments and stakeholders to invest in children’s infrastructure and address the specific needs of vulnerable groups.
Children also used the platform to share their voices directly, Akello Brenda, a primary six pupil from Kitgum, recited a poem calling for equal opportunities for boys and girls in education.
“We, the children of Kitgum, want to study and achieve our dreams. Please keep us in school and protect us from early marriage,” she said, drawing applause from the gathering.
In his remarks, the Manager of ADRA, in charge of the Together Project, Pio Ndahilo, emphasized the central role of families and communities in safeguarding children’s welfare.
“People must take cardinal responsibility in protecting the rights of children. Parents, in particular, have the duty to ensure their children access education, health, and other rights they deserve because they are the future of tomorrow,” Pio said.
Jimmy Ssegawa Ebill, the Resident District Commissioner of Kitgum district, reiterated the government’s commitment to ensuring access to quality and inclusive education.
He urged parents to support their children’s education by discouraging harmful practices like child labor and neglect.
The Day of the African Child is observed annually on June 16 in remembrance of the 1976 Soweto student uprising in South Africa, where schoolchildren protested against poor-quality education and racial segregation.
Kitgum district pushed their celebrations to August with call to action for leaders, parents, and communities to continue fighting for the rights, dignity, and future of every African child.
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