Local Struggles, Global Roots: Child Labor in Uganda

Abstract

Child labor is a widespread issue that continues to persist, particularly in the Global South, despite national and international efforts to reduce it. This research study aims to explore how persistent factors in Uganda, poverty, lack of education, and the informal sector, contribute to child labor, and how Resource Rights Africa, as a local civil society organization, seeks to address and mitigate these factors with the aim of eliminating child labor in Uganda. Existing research identifies poverty, lack of education, and informal economies as key drivers of child labor in the Global South. While international approaches such as Business and Human Rights outline corporate responsibilities, scholars critique their limited local applicability in contexts of structural dependency. This gap underscores the need to examine how local civil society organizations like Resource Rights Africa navigate these systemic constraints while implementing rights-based approaches.Grounded in a pragmatist philosophy, this study uses a qualitative case study design to analyze Uganda’s structural inequalities and Resource Rights Africa’s advocacy efforts. Dependency Theory highlights how Uganda’s colonial legacy and economic dependencies on the Global North perpetuates underdevelopment, reinforcing conditions that normalize child labor. Meanwhile, the Business and Human Rights lens evaluates Resource Rights Africa’s efforts on advocacy on human rights. Findings reveal that poverty, lack of education, and a dominant informal sector forms a self-reinforcing cycle of child labor in Uganda, in which poverty compels families to depend on children’s labor for survival, limiting educational access and perpetuating deprivation across generations. Weak education systems, plagued by financial barriers, low quality, and minimal perceived value, further push children into informal work, which dominates Uganda’s economy, yet offers no protections or escape from poverty. These structural factors are exacerbated by Uganda’s economic dependency on the Global North, rooted in colonial legacies and continued through foreign investments and aid reliance. Resource Rights Africa addresses this cycle through a Business and Human Rights approach, employing grassroots advocacy (e.g., puppet theatre, community dialogues) to shift norms, while pressuring the state to implement the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights, though weak enforcement and language barriers hinder progress. Despite efforts to engage businesses in human rights due diligence and remedy mechanisms, profit-driven resistance persists, and children remain marginalized in accessing remedy. Critically, the study exposes tensions between global frameworks and local realities: while global frameworks provide normative guidance, their top-down design struggles to address informal economies and Uganda’s aid dependency. Resource Rights Africa’s mediation role proves vital yet faces constraints from weak state enforcement, business resistance, and financial dependency on international donors. These barriers underscore the need for structural reforms that go beyond localized interventions to disrupt the cycle of child labor. In sum, these findings suggest that Resource Rights Africa’s community, rights-based approach is crucial to the elimination of child labor in Uganda, yet they are not sufficient on their own. Breaking the cycle of child labor requires systemic reforms addressing Uganda’s economic dependencies and structural inequalities while simultaneously having integrated solutions that simultaneously reduces poverty, education gaps, and the informal sector. The research underscores the need for greater Global North accountability and more equitable partnerships in development efforts – efforts that truly confront the reality that too many children are still denied their right to a safe childhood.