Country: Uganda

Organization: Am an independent researcher

Innovation: Globally, young children are disproportionately affected by trafficking, and most markedly so in parts of Africa where relatives play a big role. I suggest a comprehensive child registration and monitoring system with a nationwide and regional network to be put in place. The program will monitor every child by routine collection of information on that child through a series of reporting channels starting with a register kept by the chief at the village level who will constantly update information on children in his village and report it to higher system network. Correct identification of the child will then be made at any point in the country. People will put to task to correctly verify that the child in their custody is legally so.

Impact: The system will cause a drastic reduction in child trafficking since every child will be monitored closely and accounted for. There will be development of schools, which are more inclusive, gender sensitive and with a protective environment.With an educated society there will be a reduction in economic and gender disparities, which are key factors that fuel trafficking. The new generation will champion advocacy and build supportive social norms and better social inclusion and eliminate gender disparities. Success of the system will definitely spill over to regional countries and every country will assume the role of a gatekeeper for her children and those of the neighbor.

Tipping Point: Because of increased child monitoring, every stakeholder right from the parents, who have to report to the system, will exercise vigilance. As a tipping point, a large vacuum of children vulnerable to traffickers will be created and with time as the system is improved and correctly maintained, not one child will leave without notice leaving traffickers empty handed and making it a risky business to venture in. Positive results will also encourage guardians to improve their moral obligations as custodians of children. As a gap, with more children in school, there will be a need for adjustment in education policies and priorities, including teacher salaries and placement, class size, spending on student transportation in rural schools.

Replication: The program will be fully documented and put in a training manual with the software program used for routine monitoring and will be freely disseminated to different relevant country authorities. Neighboring countries will definitely pick interest as countries start asking them about their children who entered their countries and soon they will follow and build their system with the help of regional cooperation. The program is easy to follow once the initial principles have been learnt.

Sustainability: The benefits of this program in terms of improved education will have positive implications for expected country growth and thus for fiscal expectations and sustainability. States will be forced to re-orient their fiscal priorities to promoting this program. Improvements in the country will reinforce the logic of massive donor support to reduce the probability of countries failing to sustain the program, by the donor helping to finance the additional costs of meeting all development challenges especially education. It's also a community issue that will make every one feel compelled to contribute to it in one way or the other for sustainability.

Position in the Human Trafficking Mosaic of Solutions:

Factor: Vulnerability of High-Risk Populations

Principle: Creating Value-Driven Communities