Buganda Kingdom and UNICEF partner to improve child welfare

12 November 2025, 5:00 pm

By Edwin Okurmu Kisa

The Kingdom of Buganda, through the Buganda Investment and Commercial Undertaking Ltd (BICUL), and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today signed a pivotal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the Buganda Parliament to launch a comprehensive partnership dedicated to improving the well-being and fulfilment of the rights of the 4.2 million children in the Buganda region.

This collaboration is founded on the conviction that every child deserves to survive, thrive, and fulfil their potential. By blending resources with the Kingdom’s deep community roots and cultural authority, and UNICEF’s global technical expertise, the partnership aims to generate sustainable, forward-looking positive change for children.

The spirit of the partnership is intrinsically linked to the traditional Buganda concept of Bulungi Bwansi, working for the common good, reflecting the core principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

At the signing event, the Katikkiro of Buganda, Owek. Charles Peter Mayiga, highlighted the impact of the collaboration:

“The way a community takes care of its children is how its future can be determined. A child is the foundation of adulthood, and we see our responsibility as absolute. We value this collaboration with UNICEF immensely because it enables us to comprehensively ensure children’s health and nutrition, keep children in school, and protect them from violence. Working together allows us to immediately extend our efforts across education, immunization, nutrition, and health, securing the well-being of the next generation of Buganda.”

The MoU establishes four interconnected commitments where joint efforts will focus on issues impacting children and their rights, including on:

Child survival: Scaling up immunization and using Kingdom media to share life-saving information to reduce preventable mortality and malnutrition.

Quality education: Eliminating barriers for vulnerable children, focusing on Early Childhood Development, launching re-enrolment campaigns, and empowering Kabaka Youth Councils.

Child protection: Ending abuse, violence, child marriage, and adolescent pregnancies; strengthening birth registration systems; and collaborating with traditional leaders.

Behaviour change and child participation: Shifting attitudes by providing platforms for children to advocate for their own rights, recognizing them as agents of change, and fighting harmful social practices.

The UNICEF Representative, Dr. Robin Nandy, emphasized the urgency and vision of the agreement:

“This Memorandum of Understanding is a promise to the children of the Buganda Kingdom and Uganda. We will be a reliable, transparent, and respectful partner, ensuring every resource invested translates into tangible improvements. Together in making a difference for the children, we are greater than the sum of our parts.”

A Joint Steering Committee will be established to define an action plan to implement the commitments outlined in the MoU, monitor progress of activities, and document successful models that can be scaled up and shared.