Joint Opinion of Ordo Iuris and Ordo Iuris Africa Submitted to the UN Human Rights Council on Uganda

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The Ordo Iuris Africa Center and the Ordo Iuris Institute have submitted to the UN Human Rights Council a joint opinion on the observance of human rights in the Republic of Uganda.

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The opinion, filed as part of the 54th session of the Universal Periodic Review, is the first submission by Ordo Iuris Africa, which was formally established in 2026.

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The document focuses on five areas: the family, parental rights, child protection, freedom of religion, and national sovereignty in the implementation of human rights standards.

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The authors drew attention to attempts to make development aid conditional on adopting approaches to education that conflict with the values of Ugandan families and religious communities.

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The recommendations include, among other things, the ratification of key agreements, better protection of children online, and ensuring that parents have a role in decisions concerning education.

On June 25, 2026, the Ordo Iuris Center for Law and Human Rights Africa, based in Arusha, Tanzania, and the Ordo Iuris Institute for Legal Culture, based in Warsaw, jointly submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Council an opinion concerning the observance of human rights in the Republic of Uganda. The opinion was presented as part of the 54th session of the Universal Periodic Review.

For Ordo Iuris Africa, formally established in 2026, this is the first opinion of its kind — inaugurating the Center’s work in defense of human rights and the sovereignty of nation states.

The opinion focuses on five main areas identified as important for the protection of human dignity in Uganda: the family as the basic unit of society, the rights of parents with respect to the upbringing and education of their children, the protection of children from exploitation and harm, freedom of religion and conscience, and respect for national sovereignty in the implementation of human rights standards.

The organizations that authored the report acknowledged Uganda’s efforts to date: the constitutional protection of the family, the inclusion of measures to strengthen it in national development plans, and the adoption of a national strategy aimed at eliminating child marriage. They also emphasized that in the Republic of Uganda religious organizations still play a very important role in running schools and health care facilities, especially in rural areas.

Among the challenges that the Republic of Uganda still faces, the authors pointed to the fact that in 2024 hundreds of children were identified as victims of human trafficking. The problem of child marriage continues to affect many girls. Uganda has, moreover, not ratified the Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography.

The opinion drew attention to the fact that certain international actors are making attempts to make development aid conditional on the adoption of particular approaches to education that may conflict with the values of Ugandan families and religious communities. Regardless of the justification presented, such conduct undermines the principle of sovereign equality and weakens the integrity of the international human rights system as a truly universal framework. This practice risks driving states away from multilateral human rights protection mechanisms and undermining their legitimacy as instruments genuinely serving that protection.

Real progress in protecting children and families is possible when policy respects the role of parents, strengthens the family, and allows religious organizations to operate freely in accordance with their beliefs. International cooperation should be based on mutual respect, not on the imposition of external ideological conditions. The authors of the statement supported the right of religious educational institutions to preserve their own religious character and to require students to respect the values and principles they profess, while at the same time recommending that Uganda strengthen the mechanisms guaranteeing all students equal access to education, regardless of their religious affiliation.

The opinion set out specific recommendations for the Human Rights Council. These include the ratification of key international agreements, improved support for victims of human trafficking, the development of more effective regulations protecting children online, ensuring that parents have a role in making decisions concerning education, and protecting the independence of religious organizations.

The Ordo Iuris Institute for Legal Culture has gained a valuable ally in the fight for human dignity and human rights and for the preservation of the legal culture that protects them. The Ordo Iuris Center for Law and Human Rights in Africa promises to be an important voice for African nations and societies that value the protection of human dignity and life, marriage, the family, and the sovereignty of nation states.

Source of cover photo: Ordo Iuris