Children's participation in child neglect proceedings in Uganda: An analysis of Inclusion and Resistance in KANUNGU District

This study examines the issue of child neglect from the perspective of children's rights to participation as stipulated by Uganda's Children statute 1996. The study situates child participation in the proceedings of the probation and welfare office in Kanungu District financial year 2001-2002. Drawing from published and unpublished literature - including individual case reports of child neglect handled by the welfare office - my personal reflection and experience as the head of probation and welfare office Kanungu district, the study shows a clear tension between the universal norms of children's rights as stipulated in the UN-CRC - integrated in the Ugandan Children Statute - and the diverse meanings of child participation derived from the social construction of childhood and gender, both of which are embedded in local power structures and norms. The paper delineates the key principles that underpin the concept of child participation as adopted in the probation and welfare office and traces the ways in which practices have adhered to, adjusted or resisted these principles. Decision makers at the local level do not always respect the principles stipulated in the Children's Statute - being overwhelmed by the diverse community needs and e~pectations. Children's participation remains the showpiece of many campaigns for children's rights. Neither childhood nor gender are natural, but products of society, cultural and history. If 'childhood' and 'gender' are taken as the artefacts of the creation of meanings by human societies, then intervention in child neglect cases must discern these meanings and situate them in families and in society. Understanding participation from the perspectives of children can help develop more critical reflections among adults concerned with child neglect, and can promote reflexive debates about formal standards in order to find ways to improve practices of child participation.