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Multi-Stakeholder Coalition Accelerates #FromMinesToSchool Initiative in Karamoja

KAMPALA / MOROTO — In a major push toward ending the worst forms of child labor in mining communities of Karamoja, we recently had a powerful, two-day advocacy drive. Combining grassroots community mobilization with high-level legislative dialogue, the back-to-back events on June 29th and June 30th marked a decisive step forward in securing the right to education for children across the Karamoja Sub-region.

The drive commenced on June 29th with a dynamic radio talk show designed to mobilize communities from the ground up. The broadcast served as a vital platform to share the tangible successes of the #FromMinesToSchool project and to address the urgent need to transition learners out of mining sites and into classrooms.

The discussion featured a strategic blend of local and technical leadership, including the Subcounty Chief of Lotisan Subcounty, the District Senior Education Officer, and grassroots community representatives. Together, the panel issued a unified call to action, urging parents and community members to fully utilize the mobile schools actively operating in their areas. By meeting pastoral and mining communities where they are, these mobile units are successfully breaking down the geographical barriers that have historically kept children trapped in dangerous labor cycles.

Building on the grassroots momentum of the radio broadcast, EAN hosted a high-level engagement on June 30th bringing together Members of Parliament and both political and technical local government officials from the Karamoja Sub-region.

The high level engagement focused intensely on mitigating the worst forms of child labor in mining communities by strengthening the intersection between education access and extractive industry regulation. The engagement was graced by lawmakers from Amudat, Moroto, and Nakapiripirit districts, who threw their legislative weight behind EAN’s alternative education delivery models.

"The mobile schools established by EAN are bridging a critical gap, ensuring that children trapped in mining areas are finally able to access quality education."
— Hon. Cheutich Rufinah, Amudat Woman Representative

The discussions highlighted how the project’s deployment of Accelerated Education Programmes (AEP) inside mobile schools serves as a lifeline for areas that have long suffered from infrastructural neglect.

"The #FromMinesToSchool project is offering a viable lifeline. Some of these mining areas, like Kokwochaya and Kongorok, did not have a single school. This intervention is changing that reality."
— Hon. Lolem Micah Akasile, Upe County MP

Linking Policy to Practice

By connecting the community-level insights from June 29th’s radio show with the legislative commitments secured on June 30th, EAN has solidified a comprehensive framework for accountability. Moving forward, the network will continue to work alongside parliamentary champions, local governments, and mining communities to expand AEP centers, enforce child protection frameworks, and ensure that every child’s rightful place is in the classroom, not the mines.

The #FromMinesToSchool project is a flagship initiative implemented by the Education Advocacy Network (EAN) in partnership with Resource Rights Africa and Oxfam in Uganda with support from the European Union is dedicated to eradicating child labor in the extractive sector through flexible, mobile, and accelerated learning frameworks tailored to the unique dynamics of the Karamoja Sub-region.