Browsing by Author "Larok, Rita"

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    Child and Household Social-Economic Vulnerability: Determinants Transition from Moderate and Critical Vulnerability Levels in Rural Uganda
    (Childhood Vulnerability Journal, 2019) Walugembe, Patrick; Wamala, Robert; Misinde, Cyprian; Larok, Rita
    The study aimed to determine the factors that affect transition from moderate and critical levels of vulnerability to improved vulnerability status. The central argument of this paper is that individual and household characteristics differ and therefore the effect of programmatic interventions on vulnerability also differs. The assessment is based on a pre and post study of a cohort of 17,484 vulnerable households from 35 districts in rural Uganda. Vulnerability transition was studied at two levels; (i) any improvement of the vulnerability score and (ii) improvement from critical level of vulnerability. The factors associated with transition from any level of vulnerability were; region, disability of the child, parenthood status, household size, age of the parent/guardian as well as participation in the activities namely; economic strengthening, child protection and access to legal services and family strengthening (p < 0.05). Similarly, the factors associated with transition from critical vulnerability were; region, disability of child, parenthood status, household size, as well as participation in the activities namely economic strengthening, child protection and legal services and family strengthening (p < 0.05). In conclusion, whereas interventions like economic strengthening, family strengthening, child protection, and food security and nutrition were associated with improved vulnerability, the characteristics of the individuals and the surrounding household characteristics play a critical role in transition from vulnerability. We conclude that interventions alone are not enough to support transition from vulnerability, but rather it is a combination and an interplay of different influences including individual and household characteristics. There is no ‘one size fits them all’ solution to child vulnerability improvement. This study highlights the need to strive for solutions that recognize the unique characteristics, needs and diversity among different vulnerable populations.
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    Child Protection and Household Vulnerability: A Longitudinal Analysis of Child Rights and Protection Amongst Vulnerable Households and their Families in Rural Uganda.
    (Canadian Journal of Children's Rights/Revue, 2018) Walugembe, Patrick; Larok, Rita; Thembo, Joshua; Wamala, Robert; Misinde, Cyprian; Nakibuuka, Noel; Nyeko, John Paul
    This article explores child protection and child rights based on four factors: child abuse, child labour, child substance abuse and child enrolment in school in the context of a vulnerable rural population. The analysis is based on a cohort of 17,848 vulnerable households and the children therein studied over a period of four years under the “sustainable comprehensive responses for vulnerable children and their families project” implemented in rural Uganda between 2011 and 2017. We find out that overall, child protection factors mentioned above improved over the four years alongside household vulnerability, but they were still unacceptably high to enable the realization of child rights in their totally. We observe that compared to the rest of the vulnerable households, the children who had experienced child abuse, used substances and alcohol and experience child labour and were targeted with child protection intervention, were more likely to transition out of vulnerability compared to the others. However, we found out that these children were less likely to be enrolled in school over the four years and were more likely to be absent from school. We conclude that poor child protection indicators amongst the vulnerable children compound their household and individual vulnerability and increase the likelihood that their basic rights will be violated. We recommend that child protection issues, and child rights specifically should be brought at the forefront of all child protection interventions.