The evening of 28th September, 2023 was a fundraising dinner linked to the UCHD 2023 conference which focused on giving for an important cause – support for children who experience sexual violence in Uganda. This important dinner was attended by 130 guests representing a diversity of partners. It was graced by Her Excellency, Ambassador Maria Hokansson of the Embassy of Sweden in Uganda in company of Counsellor Health, Thomas Lundstrom from the same Embassy. Ambassador Maria launched a Legal Aid Fund, created to enable the Center for Health, Human Rights and Development (CEHURD) strengthen legal aid support to ensure access to justice for children who experience sexual violence in Uganda. The Fund will also enable CEHURD to integrate psychosocial support for these children and their families. This initiative was inspired by CEHURD’s current experience where the majority of clients accessing services from the institution’s legal aid programme are children who have experienced sexual violence from those who should protect them. These children wo are already vulnerable from conditions such as poverty, navigate a lonely life’s journey, dominated by stigma and isolation from their own families, communities and society.

The story of Grace (not real name), one of CEHURD’s legal aid client was an emotional reality, representing the more than 10,000 children who face sexual violence each year in Uganda according to the annual police crime report. Grace narrated the story of how her 10-year-old daughter was repeatedly sexually abused during the Covid-19 time by her own biological father. Grace also recalled instances of physical domestic violence directed to her for reporting the case to healthcare facility and police.