Child labour in Uganda: Trends and drivers, 2012-2021

In Uganda, child labour remains a major challenge to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 8.7 and a key development challenge, as recognized by the third National Development Plan (NDP III) 2020/21–2024/25.

As an Alliance 8.7 Pathfinder Country, Uganda is committed to accelerating efforts to eliminate child labour.

Under this backdrop, understanding child labour trends and their determinants is crucial for the design of effective, evidence-based policies. It enables the identification of structural risk factors and protective conditions—such as improvements in household welfare, higher educational attainment among household heads, and expanded access to schooling— that influence child labour outcomes, while ensuring that policy responses remain responsive to evolving risks.

This brief prepared by the ACCEL Africa project with the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands examines child labour in Uganda between 2012 and 2021, highlighting both progress made and challenges that remain. Drawing on national survey data, the brief presents child labour trends over the past decade, while pointing to persistent risks linked to poverty, household shocks, rural livelihoods, limited access to quality education, and the concentration of child labour in agriculture. It also underlines the need for stronger social protection, decent work for adults, gender-responsive programming, and improved monitoring and enforcement to accelerate Uganda’s efforts to eliminate child labour.