One of the winners displays his T-shirt

Pupils march during the children anti-corruption lobby event in August 2007

Anti corruption week activitiy

Children pose for a photo with the Parliament Speaker after presenting the anti-corruption petition

In 2003, UDN launched a child participation project with a purpose of promoting and advocating for the children to participate in policy influencing in Uganda with the view of having more pro-children and poverty focused policies formulated and implemented at local and national levels. The activity was aimed at creating an enabling environment that brings children to occupy center stage of policy formulation by giving them a voice to articulate their interests, concerns and needs to policy makers.

The engagement of the children led to the formation of the youth taskforce which is instrumental in organizing different activities among the youth such as debates, creation of art pieces, drama and essay competitions. This has enabled the children to participate actively in the fight against corruption and increased awareness on causes, effects and how corruption can be prevented in Uganda.

Since the children and the youth represent the country’s future leaders, they need to understand issues of corruption and good governance in order to hold government officials accountable for their actions and also to grow up aware of the dangers of corruption.

In 2005, UDN organized the first national children’s / youth essay competitions under the theme “ End corruption Now” and the essay question was “Corruption seems to be in the increase in Uganda, as a leader, what would you do to stop corruption?" This question was for all categories of pupils and students i.e. from Primary five to Primary seven, then from Senior secondary One to six. About 1,123 pupils and students from 655 schools participated in the essay competitions.

A prize-winning ceremony was held in Kampala in October 2005 where the guest of honour was the Danish Ambassador Stig Barling. All the participating pupils, students and schools were given certificates of participation and the best 30 pupils and students were given prizes that included computers, coloured television sets, CD radios, English dictionaries, Novels and wrist watches.  

In 2006, UDN in conjunction with the Youth Task Force organized the second national essay writing competition for the Primary and Secondary schools in Uganda. The activity was aimed at creating awareness among the children, youth and the entire public in Uganda to become responsible citizens. The theme of the essay competitions was: "Enhancing Integrity for a Corruption-free Society."

The 2006 essay competitions were divided into different categories i.e. primary, lower secondary and upper secondary. This was to enable the different categories of pupils and students to participate effectively and give diverse views on what they think about issues of corruption. The questions for the different categories include;
1. Primary Category - P.5- P.7
What do you think can be done to make Uganda a corruption-free country?

2. Lower Secondary Category S.I-S.2
Poverty is the cause of corruption. Discuss.

3.  Middle and Upper Secondary Category S.3- S.4 and S.5-S.6 
How can Integrity in Leadership and Public Office be promoted to attain a Corruption-free Society in Uganda?

Prizes and awards

In response to the advert on the essay competitions, 1,273 pupils /students from over 654 schools in Uganda participated in the competitions. The ten winning essays in each category were given prizes and awards. All winners attended a prize giving ceremony on 24th October 2006 at Nommo Gallery in Kampala. The winning pupil/student in each category got a plaque for their schools. Other students received framed certificates for their schools. Apart from the plaques and certificates, all the winning pupils and students were given customized watches with the UDN logo. Other prizes included TV sets, CD players, radio cassettes, T-shirts, certificates for both the participating schools and pupil/students among others. The essays were compiled into a booklet entitled "Say No! To Corruption"