VIOLA FOUNDATION CHILDREN

 

INTRODUCTION

NGO Reg. No. S.5914/9730

VIOLA FOUNDATION FOR HANDCAP, ORPHANS AND THE ELDERLY [VIFOHOE] is a Non-Governmental Organization and Non-Profit Company registered with NGO Board (S. 5914/ 9730) under the Non-Governmental Organizations Registration ACT, CAP.113. The Organization was formed mainly to focus at the empowerment and wellbeing of the Orphans, Handicap and Elderly.

Handicapped, Orphans and Elderly in Abject Life in Uganda and Africa in general are hidden due to the fact that they are invisible; yet by the very nature of their situation, they are included among those that are classified as the disadvantaged in Uganda. Handicapped, Orphans and Elderly are subsumed within the poverty categories most often referred to such as households, communities, and people. This, that there is a high tendency to focus on other-related problems while Handicapped, Orphans and Elderly ones are ignored, partly because they have little power and influence within a group that contains adults.

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Findings reflect that children and Elderly in abject life can be recognized by rather elementary (as opposed to sophisticated) criteria. Top on the list is absence of basic necessities such as shelter, food, clothing and water. Equally important is the ‘human condition’ in terms of physical health, parental care and protection. Schooling is high on the list as critical criteria in determining who is extremely or modestly a disadvantaged child.

While there seems to be national consensus among donors, the public sector and civil society that the government has made commendable progress in implementing PEAP (Poverty Eradication Action Plan) as flexibly as possible, its evolving nature (due to the participatory and consultative reviews it undergoes regularly) does not address many of the development challenges Handicapped, Orphans and Elderly face today. It would take lobbying and advocacy interventions to ensure that the needs and demands of Handicapped, Orphans and Elderly in abject life are met.