Hello hello!

It’s hard to believe we’ve been in Uganda now for three weeks – I feel like our three months here are going to be over before we know it and I have a bit of catching up to do with the blog! So far the fellowship has been pretty fantastic and Brooke and I already feel at home at FHRI. As I’m writing this right now I’m sitting on a cliff watching a storm come across the Nile river at Bujagali Falls – definitely a nicer view than from a Bay Street office tower. ☺

When we arrived at FHRI we found that a good bit of the research for the Juvenile Justice Report was already well under way so our first mission was to figure out how and where we could most be useful. As gaps in the research were identified we have stepped in to conduct new interviews and help collect additional information. In the past three weeks we have had some pretty incredible experiences in the field. One of my personal highlights was our visit to the Naguru Remand Home where children are detained between arrest and the end of their trials. There are several of these homes across the country, although arguably not nearly enough to meet the demand. One of the issues contributing to the large number of children found at Naguru is that most of the remand homes have also become “transition centres” for children whom the state and/or law enforcement officials have deemed to be “in need of care and protection.” The majority of these children have been found sleeping on the streets and although they are theoretically supposed to be there for a short period (I believe two weeks is the max target) many of the ones we spoke to had been there for well over a month and had not received any news of potential plans for resettlement. For many, life at Naguru was a welcome change from the uncertain lives they had led and one of the young boys I spoke to explained that he hoped he would not have to leave because at least at Naguru he had a roof over his head, food, and someone to care for him. While we were at the home we had the opportunity to interview both children in conflict with the law as well as these children in need of care and protection. Words alone cannot do justice to some of the stories we have heard and I’m not sure that I will entirely process the experience until I have returned home but it was undoubtedly something that will stay with me forever. One of the biggest challenges I have understood with respect to the remand homes and juvenile justice, is children over-staying on remand. From our discussions with the warden at Naguru as well as subsequent discussions with other NGOs and Legal Aid providers, the delay in processing children’s cases is the result of a complex set of factors from basic resource shortages (often the remand homes lack sufficient money to purchase fuel to transport children to court) to more systemic issues that do not allow for “petty offences” to be diverted or expedited. While diversion programs are increasingly being promoted by the government and law enforcement officials, the majority of cases involving children continue to go through the mainstream, formal justice system which results in large numbers of children accused of petty theft and other minor offences being detained on remand at a rate that exceeds judicial capacity. Although various NGOs have stepped in to help address these issues by providing money for transportation and offering legal representation to young offenders, substantial change will likely not be possible without a comprehensive reform of the administration of juvenile justice in the country. I imagine that I am not alone in reaching this conclusion and that many of the projects other fellows are working on ultimately lead you to a similar end – without systemic reform can there really be substantial change? From a law and development perspective I believe that that is one of the biggest challenges I face personally – recognizing that Uganda, like every country, is faced with resource scarcity that involves making allotment decisions based on relative priorities. While I could write volumes about why I believe that juvenile justice should be bumped up on the government’s priority list, the reality is that there are equally as many who feel that education, or health, or corruption should be targeted. My experiences here over the past three weeks have undoubtedly raised important questions about the role of legal advocacy in the development of process and I’m looking forward to seeing what the next 8 weeks will bring our way.

Hope you are all doing well.
Cheers,
Ash.