Implications of disparate interpretations of participation in children of the streets programs in Kampala

The research aimed at ascertaining why the prevailing interventions aimed at protecting the rights of the children of the streets in Kampala, Uganda, fail—in order to establish a more effective approach. Based on qualitative interviews with a range of actors in the interventions aimed at protecting children of the streets in Kampala, Uganda, I discovered that there are multiple interpretations of children’s participation, which vary among the stakeholders, thus negatively influencing on the participation of children of the streets in the interventions aimed to protect their rights. Most of the actors seem to support/prefer the collaborative participation approach, with the children showing some preference for the child-led approach. However, the law enforcement support/prefer the consultative participation approach. Moreover, according to the participants, socio-economic factors and systemic/institutional weaknesses restrict the integration of children of the streets’ participation in the interventions aimed at helping them, thus impacting the effectiveness of the interventions. Therefore, the government and other stakeholders in the sector should establish ways of reducing these restrictions in order to enhance children participation, and hence improve the effectiveness of the interventions aimed at helping children of the streets in Kampala and similar contexts.