David Kaawa-Mafigiri, Ph.D. (CWRU Anth 2007) co-edited the first book on child abuse and neglect in Uganda (Springer, 2017). Kaawa-Mafigiri is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Social Work and Social Administration at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda and an Adjunct Visiting Assistant Professor in the CWRU Department of Anthropology. 

He received his PhD in medical anthropology in 2007. The book, co-edited by Eddy Walakira, is the first book written by Ugandan authors to explore the complex issues of child abuse and neglect in Uganda. The project received support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

The book was officially released on 27th October at a reception hosted by Makerere University. Among those in attendance was Hon. Janat Mukwaya, Uganda Member of Parliament and the Uganda Minister for Gender, Labour and Social Development. She praised the book, noting that the book’s important findings would be used to develop policies to prevent and respond to child abuse in Uganda. Mukwaya expressed her congratulations to Drs. Kaawa-Mafigiri and Walakira on the publication of this important and timely book.

Also attending were Dr. Jill Korbin, Professor of Anthropology, Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Director of the Schubert Center for Childhood Studies. Korbin is co-editor of the Springer book series, Child Maltreatment: Contemporary Issues in Research and Policy, and Dr. Edward Kirumira is Principal of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Makerere University.