Research consultancy

ACCESSIBILITY TO LEGAL AID SERVICES BY ORPHANS AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN IN BANDA PARISH KAMPALA

CHAPTER ONE

1.1 Background to the Study

An orphan is defined as a child under the age of 18, or under the age of 15 with one or both parents deceased. According to the UDHS (2006), a vulnerable child is one who is under 18, or under 15, and has a parent with a chronic illness or lives in a household where an adult has been chronically ill or passed away within the last 12 months (Sserwanja et al., 2020).

The 2002 National Population and Housing Census in Uganda reported 1,763,386 orphans, comprising 24.3% of all children. Most of these orphans were paternal orphans living with their mothers. Approximately 80% were double orphans due to AIDS, as per the UNAIDS report of 2002. This highlights the critical role of the surviving mothers in ensuring the health and well-being of today’s orphans (Ndugga et al., 2020).

Various models are used globally to provide legal aid services, including the Judi care model, staff attorney model, and community legal clinic model. The Judi care model involves hiring the services of a private lawyer or law firm, while the staff attorney model employs a salaried lawyer. In the community legal clinic model, legal aid services are delivered to a specific community by a designated agency (Rosenthal, 2018).

Legal aid services in Uganda have predominantly been delegated to non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which rely on external funding to sustain their operations (Kalibala & Elson, 2009). Between 1995 and 2000, various initiatives were undertaken by justice delivery institutions to enhance their performance through institutional strengthening, pilot projects, and policy interventions. The establishment of the Legal Aid Service Providers’ Network in 2001 and the increased involvement of NGOs like UGANET marked significant progress in recognizing and addressing the demand for legal aid services (Huynh, 2014). Despite this progress, Uganda’s legal aid service sector is still in its developmental stages and faces numerous challenges, primarily due to the absence of a clear policy framework guiding its operations. While some developed and a few developing countries have made notable advancements in legal aid services, Uganda continues to grapple with these issues.

Statement of the Problem

Persistent poverty, the burden of diseases like HIV/AIDS, and ongoing political unrest globally continue to render many children orphaned and highly vulnerable. A 2009 situational analysis of Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCs) in Uganda by the Ministry of Gender, Labor, and Social Development revealed that 96% of these children face vulnerability primarily due to orphanhood, along with challenging social, economic, and political environments. In such conditions, the rights of OVCs are often violated, and seeking justice is exceptionally difficult given their heightened vulnerability (Ibeh, 2011).

Despite increased commitments from the government and NGOs to safeguard the rights of OVCs, as outlined in the National Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children Policy (2004) and the National Strategic Programme Plan of Interventions for Orphans and other Vulnerable children (2004), along with efforts to provide legal aid services, there remains limited understanding of how OVCs in specific areas, such as Banda Parish, are accessing and benefiting from these services.

The absence of data on Banda Parish from the 2009 national mapping exercise on legal aid services provision in Uganda underscores this knowledge gap. Consequently, little is known about the demand for and utilization of legal aid services by OVCs in Banda Parish, Kampala. This therefore has warranted tis study.

General Objective

The overall objective of this study is determining the accessibility to legal aid services by orphans and vulnerable children in Banda parish Kampala.

Specific Objectives

The study will be guided by the following research objectives;

1. To investigate the legal aid needs of orphans and vulnerable children in Banda Parish.
2. To identify the factors that lead to the need for legal aid services for the orphans and vulnerable children in Banda Parish.

• To identify the available legal aid services for the orphans and vulnerable children in Banda Parish.

Figure 1.1: Conceptual Framework

This study will investigate the relationship between the need for legal aid services (Independent variable) and accessibility to the legal aid services (dependant variables) by Orphans and Vulnerable Children. The factors affecting the need for legal aid services will be measured basing on the socio-economic and political factors that give rise to this needs and the accessibility to legal aid services in respect to the percentages of Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCS) with better and poor access to the services.

The hypothesis underlying this study is that once the need for legal aid crops up, it is followed by accessibility to the services as the case is in the developed world. However, it is also hypothesized that the link between the need for and accessibility to legal aid services is moderated by several socio-economic and political factors which are context specific as seen in the figure above.

METHODOLOGY

This section will provide information on how the study will be carried out specifically including; study design, study site, sampling procedure, methods of data collection, data analysis and ethical considerations.

    5.1 Study Design

Research design refers to the systematic blueprint and framework devised to explore and procure solutions to research inquiries, as stated by Kothari (2004). In this study, a descriptive research design will be employed. This design is chosen because it seeks to gather information from a population’s members to assess the present condition of that population concerning one or multiple variables, as noted by Kothari (2009). Mugenda and Mugenda (2003) suggest that the descriptive research design is the most suitable approach for this study, as it entails a comprehensive investigation into the interplay between variables under scrutiny.

  5.2 Study Site

Site study refers to the location were the research will be carried out from. In this study the study will be carried out in Banda parish, Kampala Uganda.

    5.3 Sampling Procedure

Sampling refers to the systematic selection of a limited number of elements out of a theoretically specified population of elements while a sample is a subset of the study population (Kothari, 2004). The rationale is to draw conclusions about the entire population. According to Orodho (2003), the ultimate test of a sample design is how well it represents the characteristics of the population it purports to. The study will use purposive sampling. Purposive sampling is a non-probability sampling technique used in research where researchers deliberately select specific individuals or groups to be included in the study based on predefined criteria or characteristics. This sampling method is often employed when researchers want to focus on a particular subgroup of the population that possesses certain qualities or experiences that are relevant to the research objectives. The study will use purposive in selecting leaders of banda. The study will also use random sampling. Random sampling is a statistical technique used in research to select a subset of individuals or items from a larger population.

     5.4 Methods of data collection

The researcher will use; questionnaires and interviews.

Questionnaire method         

According to Kothari (2012), a questionnaire will be a form of inter-related questions that will be prepared by the researcher about the problem under study and will be based on the research objectives. The information for this study will be gathered by using questionnaires. In the questionnaires, there will be both closed-ended and open-ended questions that will be administered to the selected respondents in Banda parish (Amin, 2005). The questionnaires will be filled in and collected before moving on to the next selected respond. Such data can best be tapped into using closed-ended questionnaires, which will allow respondents to make quick decisions; in addition, closed-ended questions will help the researcher to code the information easily for subsequent analysis and narrow down the error gap while analyzing data.

Interview method

The study will employ the interview method. Interviews in this study will help the researcher obtain more information on the topic under investigation. This method will also be used because it will offer the researcher an opportunity to adapt questions, clarify the questions by using the appropriate language, clear doubts, establish rapport, and probe for more information (Sekaran, 2003).

6.0 Data Analysis

Data analysis shall involve the use of both quantitative and qualitative techniques. Data processing shall be done by entering the data into a statistics package for social sciences (SPSS) in line with the research questions. Data analysis shall be done by also using this statistics package for social sciences (SPSS) to formulate frequency tables where the mean, variance and standard deviation will be obtained, while qualitative data will be analyzed thematically.

7.0 Ethics

The researcher will obtain an authorization letter from the Faculty of Law at MUK before commencing any research activities. Prior to involving respondents in the study, the researcher will seek their consent, which involves briefing them on the research’s objectives, their roles, and the potential benefits they may receive from participating. The researcher will clearly explain the study’s objectives to the respondents and emphasize that participation is voluntary; individuals are free to decide whether or not to take part.

Furthermore, the researcher will guarantee the confidentiality of the information gathered from respondents. This includes using unique identifiers/codes on questionnaires to keep respondents’ identities anonymous and ensuring that all collected information remains confidential. Additionally, the researcher will uphold honesty, fairness, and respectfulness towards all stakeholders involved in the study.

Moreover, the researcher will accurately attribute sources of information to acknowledge past scholars’ and researchers’ contributions, preventing plagiarism. Finally, the researcher will adhere to universally accepted research norms by properly citing sources to give credit where it is due.

REFERENCES

Kalibala, S., & Elson, L. (2009). Situation Analysis of Vulnerable Children in Uganda 2009: Protecting Hope. Final Report. New York, NY: Population Council. Accessed July, 12, 2017.

Ibeh, E. N. (2011). Services available for orphans and vulnerable children in Enugu State. A long essay submitted to the Department of Social Work, Nsukka University, Nsukka, Nigeria.

Kothari, C. R. (2004). Research methodology: Methods and techniques. New Age International.

Ndugga, P., Namiyonga, N. K., & Sebuwufu, D. (2020). Determinants of early postnatal care attendance: analysis of the 2016 Uganda demographic and health survey. BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 20, 1-14.

Rosenthal, E. (2018). The right of all children to grow up with a family under international law: implications for placement in orphanages, residential care, and group homes. Buff. Hum. Rts. L. Rev., 25, 65.

Sserwanja, Q., Mukunya, D., Habumugisha, T., Mutisya, L. M., Tuke, R., & Olal, E. (2020). Factors associated with undernutrition among 20 to 49 year old women in Uganda: a secondary analysis of the Uganda demographic health survey 2016. BMC Public Health, 20, 1-10.

Huynh, H. V. (2014). New directions in orphan and vulnerable children policy and research: a focus on supporting “suitable” institutions when placement is “necessary” for a child. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 84(4), 387.