Human Rights Dimensions of Food, Health and Care in Selected Children s Homes in Kampala, Uganda – Experiences of Female Adolescent Residents as Rights-holders

Background: More than 14 percent of children in Uganda are orphaned, and many of them live in children s homes. Very little information exists regarding how these homes are operated and what the conditions in these homes are like. A baseline study conducted in forty children s homes revealed however that diet was very limited, and residents were looking malnourished. Ugandan authorities have targeted adolescent girls as a priority group for nutrition interventions as safeguarding nutritional health before pregnancy can reduce the chance of passing on malnutrition to the offspring, and thus, future generations. By being State Party to relevant international and regional human rights instruments, Ugandan authorities have obligations under international human rights law to progressively realise the rights to adequate food, health and care (the underlying conditions for achieving good nutrition) for all Ugandan children, female adolescent children s homes residents included. Objectives: Two objectives guided this study: 1) To examine female adolescent residents experiences, attitudes and views regarding: i) eating patterns and food, ii) health conditions; iii) care practices in the children s home they are living in. 2) On the basis of the findings under 1), to consider if the conditions in children s homes comply with human rights standards and principles for the rights to adequate food, health and care. Methodology: A human rights-based approach has guided the planning and conduct of this study, which also resulted in using focus group discussions as the method for data collection. Five children s homes in Kampala were selected for inclusion. At each home, two focus group discussions were held with girls aged 12-14 years, and girls aged 15-17, respectively. Issues discussed during the focused discussions included the ones under Objective 1. The focus group discussions were analysed through a phenomenological approach. The conditions of food, health and care, as experienced by female adolescent residents, were further compared with international standards for the realisation of the human rights to adequate food, health and care. Results: Results of Objective 1 demonstrated that food, health and care conditions varied greatly across the five children s homes in Kampala. Some residents consume only one meal per day, and have no access to clean drinking water, soap, toilet paper and sanitary napkins. Residents at one home explained how caretakers act discriminatory and mentally abuse them. This was in large contrast with conditions in two other homes where residents described great satisfaction with food and meal frequency, had a constant availability of basic necessities including clean drinking water, and where care is promoted through participatory activities where both residents and caretakers are equalised. Results of Objective 2 demonstrated that the full realisation of the right to adequate food is not met by the residents at three homes, the full realisation of the right to health is not met by the residents at two homes, and the realisation of the right to care is not met by the residents at one home. Conclusion: Human rights standards for food, health and care were not met in three of the selected children s homes. The results from this study indicated that care in the children s homes was an important contributing factor for whether or not standards for the rights to adequate food and health were met. Ugandan authorities should put in all efforts possible to improve the conditions. As an immediate response, they can revise and enhance regulations for operation of children s homes in Uganda to include more specific provisions relevant for food, health and care.