Uganda
Uganda
Uganda, located in East Africa, is a country known for its diverse landscapes, vibrant culture, and rich history. With a population of over 45 million people, many Ugandans struggle with significant challenges including poverty, lack of education, and low employment rates. According to the World Bank, approximately 21.4% of Uganda's population lives below the national poverty line (1), struggling to meet basic needs such as food, shelter, and healthcare. Due to the high poverty rates, many Ugandan girls are forced into early child marriage as a means of survival, or are lured into trafficking with the hope of finding a good job in a large city. According to UNICEF, approximately 40% of girls in Uganda are married before the age of 18 (2), with many forced into unions as early as their pre-teen years. These marriages are often the result of a lack of financial means for basic needs or for education. Early child marriage then perpetuates the cycles of poverty and low education rates, and increases vulnerability to various forms of exploitation, including domestic violence and sexual abuse. Lack of education also contributes to the vulnerability of individuals to human trafficking by limiting their awareness, opportunities, and ability to assert their rights. Lack of education and opportunity often lead young Ugandans to search for jobs in other countries, such as in the Middle East. Unfortunately, traffickers try to take advantage of vulnerable individuals seeking employment and advertise false jobs that later turn out to be trafficking situations.
2)https://www.unicef.org/media/88846/file/Child-marriage-Uganda-profile-2019.pdf
"Employment agencies based in Uganda and abroad, both legal and fraudulent, recruit Ugandans to work in the Middle East — particularly Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, the UAE, and Oman — where, at times, traffickers exploit them in forced labor in domestic work, hospitality, or construction; Ugandans who voluntarily migrate in search of employment opportunities are also vulnerable to exploitative conditions. In one research study, an NGO estimates 89 percent of Ugandans working in the Middle East experience conditions indicative of forced labor, including non-payment of wages, physical abuse, passport confiscation, and excessive working hours.”
"Traffickers increasingly use local radio and social media to advertise fraudulent job opportunities in Kampala to lure adults and children from rural areas into exploitative situations. Traffickers also exploit women, girls, and boys in sex trafficking throughout the country, particularly in Kampala and other urban areas, in brothels, bars, residential homes, rental properties, and on the street."
"Children experiencing homelessness or using the streets as a source of livelihood are particularly vulnerable to trafficking abroad. Kenyan business owners and employers exploit Ugandan girls, particularly from the Karamoja region, in sex trafficking and forced labor in Nairobi’s Eastleigh neighborhood. Observers report ISIS-DRC may unlawfully recruit, sometimes with parental knowledge, Ugandan children to join the non-state armed group. In previous years, criminals involved in terrorist networks lured and recruited Ugandan adults and children to Somalia via Kenya to join non-state armed groups – primarily al-Shabaab – sometimes with fraudulent promises of lucrative employment."