Human trafficking is a crime and especially despicable when it affects the most vulnerable among us. Uganda is a hot spot for child trafficking, meaning that children are at high risk of being trafficked into child labor, sexual exploitation or child marriage. The End Child Trafficking Campaign is an Ugandan grassroots network of supporters, activists and volunteers who campaign for children's rig
hts in Uganda. The campaign aims at raising awareness on child trafficking in Uganda, empowering children through creative arts and inspiring change in society. It focuses on the cooperation with Ugandan communities and children themselves as agents of change. Started in 2015 and implemented by volunteers from the creative fields and government institutions, the Campaign has traveled Uganda from the trading centers in border regions, to the cities up to the smallest village schools. 800 schools and 100,000 children participated so far. Where ever the Campaign stopped, children were encouraged to act, sing and dance about their thoughts on child trafficking. Crowds of people gathered to see their performances or engaged in community dialogues. For once, children were not supposed to listen to adults - the common way of parenting in Uganda - but voiced their own ideas, teaching adults vital lessons. This unique participatory approach resulted in children speaking up about trafficking they had witnessed in their communities and actually saving children from exploitation. Many adults realized that wide spread customs such as child labor actually are child trafficking. Therefore, the performances enabled a trans-generational exchange on child trafficking that had a great impact on affected communities and transformed the perception of child trafficking towards a clearer picture of how to detect and stop it.
