KAMPALA – She waved from Entebbe with one suitcase and a plan.
Aisha, 24 ( not a real name), from Gulu, Kisoro, Moroto, Bukwo or Luwero was flying to UAE for a housekeeping, security or any other job. The goal was simple, work for two years, send money home, build a house for her mother, pay her brother’s school fees.
The first message came after two weeks: _”Mama, I’ve started work. Pray for me.”_
Then the messages became fewer. Then they stopped. Her mother now waits. Not because something bad has happened, but because no one can say for sure that it hasn’t.
That space between departure and return — that silence — is where Uganda’s biggest labour opportunity and its biggest protection gap meet.
A Growing Pathway, A Growing Responsibility?
Over the last 5 years, more than 200,000 Ugandans have traveled abroad for work through licensed agencies. Top destinations are the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan. For many young people, this is not an escape. It is a plan. It is how school fees get paid, how clinics get stocked, how businesses start. Ugandans abroad send home over $1.4 billion every year. That money touches almost every district.
With that scale comes responsibility. When a country exports skills and labour, it also exports people — mothers, brothers, daughters, first-time workers. And a country’s duty does not end at the departure gate.
Right now, that duty is incomplete, but there are opportunities for improvement. This is the spirit behind a digitalised, transparent monitoring and feedback system between the families and employers of the human resources under the Labour Externalisation Program. This must be integrated with in the recruitment process and established as an accountability by both the companies and employers overseas. With the growing digitalisation, it may be as simple as a log in and welfare update by the labourers.
The 2021 Recruitment Regulations do a good job on pre-departure training and contracts. But they do not clearly define what happens after a worker lands: who checks in, how often, how families get updates, and how data is tracked across two years and multiple countries.
Without that system, we rely on goodwill. And goodwill is not a policy.
What The Gap Looks Like?
In practice, the gap shows up as distance.
This is not about bad actors. It is about missing systems. Systems for contact. Systems for data. Systems for follow-up.
Other countries that send large numbers of workers have learned this early. The Philippines funds a welfare office in more than 50 countries through a small worker contribution.
Kenya posts Labour Attachés whose job is welfare and links, not just paperwork. Nepal runs a welfare fund supported by a modest levy to support workers and families.
The common thread: they built the bridge before the crisis.
What Uganda Needs To Do Now?
We can build that bridge here, too. And we can do it in a way that protects workers, supports good agencies, and secures the benefits migration brings.
1. Establish the Uganda Labour Migration Compliance and Welfare Authority [ULMCWA].
An independent body under the Ministry of Gender, but with the mandate and tools to act.
Its work would be practical:
Run a 24/7 toll-free, WhatsApp and USSD line in English, Luganda and other common local languages and Arabic. Check in with every deployed worker at Month 1, 6, 12 and 18. Keep a secure national database of workers, employers and contracts. Publish a quarterly public report on agency compliance and welfare trends. Coordinate with embassies on support, information and safe return when needed. This is practical and doable!
2. Put the Duty in Law.
Amend the 2021 Regulations to make post-deployment follow-up a clear and enforceable requirement. Ask agenciesand companies involved in Labour externalisation to file a simple welfare plan and share worker data within 7 days of deployment. Reward agencies that meet standards with faster approvals and public recognition.
3. Fund It Through Shared Responsibility.
Protecting our people should not depend on one budget line. Amidst the shrinking national resource envelope, this idea should not be seen as a burden or even fail at the stage of financial Implication. This proposal comes with some feasible proposals.
One of these is a Worker contribution of a one-time $30 levy at departure which is less than 2% of average recruitment costs and directly funds the hotline and support services the worker will use.
Secondly, ensure Agency contribution through a modest annual license fee of $10 per worker deployed, and a refundable compliance bond. This creates fairness — all players invest in the system.
Third point is that the duty to protect these workers remains with Government and so requires a certain level of investment as ring-fenced funding under the Human Capital Development program in NDP IV. This is economic diplomacy. It protects remittances and Uganda’s reputation.
4. Invest in Presence Abroad
As Uganda continues to expand its labour export opportunities, investing in a strategic presence in our top five labour destination countries through Labour Attachés is essential to strengthening the protection, welfare, and economic contribution of Ugandan migrant workers by providing reliable information, facilitating linkages, and coordinating support. Therefore, deploying Labour Attachés in our top 5 destination countries is a strategic move. Their core roles- information, linkage, and coordination. Not to police employers, but to ensure Ugandans know where to go and that Uganda knows where they are.
This is Why This Matters,when the system is clear, three things happen. Workers feel less alone and more confident to do their jobs well, Families at home have peace of mind and a place to get information and Government has data to negotiate better, plan better, and protect better.
Most importantly, Uganda shows that we value our people not just for what they earn, but for who they are. The flights from Entebbe will continue. Young Ugandans will continue to go out with hope and return with skills, savings and experience. Our job is to make sure that between the wave goodbye and the home coming, there is no silence. There is a number to call. There is a record of where they are. There is a country that is watching, caring, and ready to help.
Let us build that system. Now.
The writer, Rebecca Kukundakwe is a Diversity, Equity, Gender and Inclusion Expert
