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Donors Commit to Continue Supporting RHU to Ensure Young People Thrive
Satisfied with what they heard and observed, they had no doubt RHU was a credible partner to continue working with. The Japanese Organisation for International Cooperation in Family Planning (JOICFP) and SARAYA- a Japanese manufacturing and sales of health and hygiene products and services company have committed to walking with RHU towards the future. DONORS COMMIT TO CONTINUE SUPPORTING RHU TO ENSURE YOUNG PEOPLE THRIVE
District Leaders Commend RHU
Local government leaders from 14 districts applauded the contribution of civil society organizations on their efforts to complement Government initiatives towards addressing gaps in young people programing, curbing gender-based violence, the fight against teenage pregnancy, and generally provision of sexual reproductive health services. District leaders commend RHU
The SRHR Spotlight – October 2023
Endometriosis: what you should know
March is Endometriosis Awareness Month.
While it can be difficult to identify endometriosis, many people around the world suffer the effects of it. We explain the causes, symptoms, impact, and diagnosis and treatment methods. Click here for details
Uganda Celebrates 16 Days of Activism for Reproductive Health and Gender Violence
Uganda— The Director of Finance at Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU), Peter Mark Mutebi, has asked public and private organizations and other related players to take the fight against gender-based violence (GBV) outside workplaces and homes.
Presiding over the high-level stakeholder engagement in Hoima district by the RHU and partners Federation of Uganda Employers (FUE), Mutebi, said most of the GBV cases are happening in the homes, workplaces, and in countryside communities.
“Most of the cases that we do hear about are happening at work or in villages where women and girls are not empowered to report,” Mutebi said, adding that as “a young boy, I witnessed a lot of gender-based violence and bullying in my village.”
The Director of Finance also asked public and private sector players to refocus, find, and stop the drivers of gender-based violence.
“In rural areas mainly, I think it’s due to low levels of education, poverty, alcohol, and primitive beliefs that a man is above a woman even when a woman is feeding a man,” he said, committing, together with religious, cultural, and political leaders, to continue deliberate action in supporting communities in their campaign to end violence towards girls, boys, men, and women.
Sheik Musa Mabanja Atwooki, Hoima District Khadi, said religious leaders realized developments in creating an enabling environment for eliminating GBV through preaching and advocating for the enactment of laws such as the Domestic Act 2010, the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act 2009, the Penal Code Act Cap 120, and the FGM Act 2010, among others.
He added: “We want to ensure that we preach and advocate decision-makers to pass laws and policies and ensure that they are fully implemented.”Parliament established the Post Legislative Scrutiny Committee to ensure that the laws passed are implemented while also identifying gaps that need to be filled.
Approximately 650,000 teenage pregnancies were recorded during the COVID-19 lockdown in Uganda, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Figures from UNFPA show that since March 2020, when COVID-19 hit the world, an estimated 354,736 teenage pregnancies have been reported following the closure of all schools in the country for at least eight months.
An additional 290,219 pregnancies were reported between January and September 2021.
The above figures were highlighted during the 2022 commemoration of the 16 days of activism in Kampala, Bukwo, Isingiro, Rakai, and Hoima districts.
RHU did the activities in partnership with the Ministry of Gender, Labour, and Social Development (MGLSD), district local governments (DLGs), and under projects like PROMISE II, Power to Youth (PYT), Advance Family Planning (AFP), and Right Here, Right Now II.
Ruth Mwangangi, Chairperson of FUE, believes “there is no production when employees are sick or are abused at work.” we don’t need to marginalize them if we need good productivity,” and added that “I commit on behalf of this institution to ensuring that issues of gender-based violence, maternal rights, and sexual reproductive rights and services are incorporated in the 2023-2024 national budget by private employers.”
Gender-based violence, according to Kiiza Beatrice of Bugambe Tea, affects not only individual victims but also the development of the country’s workforce:
“so many are suffering from sexual harassment; please reach out and organizations put up anti-violence policies.”
Francis Eyilu, Hoima Sugar’s Human Resources Manager, thanked RHU, saying, “We partner with FUE and RHU to put in place policies to curb violence and harassment at work.” “Safety tools are important, but so are health safety tools too.”
Bwendero Darius Bainomugisha, Peer Educator: “We sensitize people about HIV/AIDS at workplaces.”
Joyce Katwesige, Miss Y+ Western Uganda, called for Ugandans to turn on the voices of marginalized people and advocate for their rights.
Violence against girls, boys, and women has recently taken new, more sophisticated forms. An increasing number of them are, for instance, reporting cyberbullying and abuse through social media and smartphones.
Nuliyati Nabiwande, Principal Labour Officer MGLSD said Gender Based Violence affects not only the individual victims but also the development of the country.
“To address Gender-Based Violence, we need to lay back and tackle the root causes of gender inequality. If we don’t address the root cause of violence, our efforts to eliminate it will be significantly less effective, the Principal Labor Officer said.
She also wants the Parliament and district local governments to advocate for and advertise shelters where women and girls facing violence can take refuge as they seek justice.
RHU put on the orange color and created “orange” virtual spaces, and communication methods e.g., drama by Tunaca Troupe, websites, social media accounts, etc., on November 25, 2022, and throughout the next 16 days until December 10, 2022.
The author Aldon Walukamba is the Media Advocacy and Documentation Coordinator at Reproductive Health Uganda
Power to Youth
RHU Launches Safe Hands App at ICFP 2022 in Thailand
The Youth Empowerment Digital Storytelling platforms for Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU) were internationally launched today at the International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP) 2022 in Thailand.
The launch coincided with the official launch of the Safe Hands exhibition booth and the ICFP 2022 exhibition hall at the Royal Cliff hotel in Pattaya city, Thailand.
Jackson Chekweko, RHU Executive Director, revealed that the Safe Hands and ASK RHU platforms enabled young people to access information about their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) issues.
“Young people are empowered to tell their stories using digital platforms, these stories are then presented to policymakers to initiate or enhance debates,” Chekweko said.
Chekweko was in the company of Tomoko Fukuda, Regional Director of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) for the East, South East Asia, and Oceania Region, and Erica Belanger from Safe Hands.
In her words, Tomoko Fukuda encouraged the use of digital platforms among young people to create awareness about SRHR through photographs, text, video, and sound, and the need for better care and parenthood from parents. She says that the platforms are user-friendly and easy to access, which is an advantage to the user, and others can learn from Uganda.
“Other countries and organizations, I believe, can learn from Uganda and use the same methods to share and receive SRHR messages for young people,” Tomoko said.
Erica Belanger from Safe Hands which supports RHU under the Knowledge and Information on Safe Sex (KISS) appreciated strides taken by RHU in creating, and innovating digital tools and ways to communicate SRHR messages to young people.
Nakanjako Babirye Aidah, KISS project, and RHU Communications Officer say the goal of the KISS digital storytelling project is to use these digital stories to raise awareness about the SRHR day-to-day social policy challenges, barriers to accessing SRHR services, budgets, and SRHR commodity needs, and aspirations of young people in Uganda. At the same time, adolescents are trained in basic interview, communication, and video recording techniques. They also learned how technology can be used to address social issues in communities and how they can play a role as change agents.
“Hundreds of boys and girls in Kabalore district have participated in this project, resulting in stories about topics including sexual & reproductive health challenges, social & economic challenges, voices of youth leaders, and youth & entrepreneurship. The videos can be viewed in the project’s Facebook group,” Nakanjako said.
RHU desires to hear stories from young people themselves. In a bid to achieve this, efforts to establish a number of regionally based platforms to collect and disseminate SRHR information to and for young people, some in their native languages. This is ongoing in a number of Ugandan projects aimed at young people. A digital hub and toll-free line have already been put in place, particularly for young people to share, ask, and receive information about SRHR by RHU in Uganda.
The ICFP 2022 is ongoing under the theme: “Family Planning + Universal Health coverage: Innovate, collaborate, accelerate” at the Royal Cliff hotel in Pattaya city, Thailand.
The author of this article Aldon Walukamba is the RHU Media Advocacy and Documentation Coordinator
Read more about RHU digital platforms
Ask RHU launch in Uganda
RHU signs Memorandum of Understanding with Lango Cultural Foundation
On October 18, 2022, cabinet leaders from the Lango Cultural Foundation (LCF) in northern Uganda signed a five-year memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU).
According to Robert James Ajal, LCF Prime Minister who led the cabinet delegation, integrating sexual reproductive health (SRH) into the LCF plan for 2022 to 2026 is critical in order to manage the LCF population and harness development in homes and as a foundation.
“Lango Cultural Foundation will educate and sensitize communities about sexual reproductive health and family planning, as well as strengthen the enforcement of existing laws against gender-based violence, defilement, child neglect, marriages, and land conflicts. Encourage and support the education of girls,” Ajal said.
The signing of the MoU was witnessed by the Lira district local government and the office of the Presidency, which vowed to protect the partnership and thus reached and birthed between RHU and LCF.
Dennis Otim Otto, Principal Assistant Secretary from the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer, pledged to support the partnership which aims to achieve demographic dividends for Lira district local government and also the Lango sub-region of Northern Uganda.
“We will support the partnership between Reproductive Health Uganda and Lango Cultural Foundation because it aligns with the Government of Uganda’s development goals like the NDP III, vision 2040, and the Parish Development Model pillar number four (4),” Otim said.
In his remarks, Jackson Chekweko, RHU Executive Director, said that as we climax with what we started in 2020 with the Lango Cultural Foundation (LCF), a resolution to promote family planning was jointly signed. LCF is now ready to cruise on its own.
“We are now putting in place a framework that will help our relationship progress. Our partnership with the Lango Cultural Foundation is based on work that improves the lives and social welfare of Lango residents and the foundation,” Chekweko said.
RHU and LCF signed a group resolution before, to promote family planning in September 2020, with support from Advance Family Planning (AFP).
The resolution, which focuses on educating communities about family planning and incorporating family planning into the LCF’s budget and development plan, has had an impact on all eight districts in the Lango region.
Cultural leaders in the Lango Kingdom are stewards of local traditions and powerful influencers of community values and health-seeking behaviors.
Dr. Buchan Patrick Ocen Lira, district health officer, disclosed that the signing of the MoU will help achieve Family Planning commitments 2030 by reducing the unmet need for family planning in the Lango region, now at 27.4% among married women and girls [1]. Cultural preferences for large families and substantial dowries for young brides have traditionally hampered family planning. This all contributes to a teen pregnancy rate of 35.2% in the region, which is higher than the national average [2].
While closing the signing ceremony, Lawrence Egole, Resident City Commissioner for Lira City, stated that Lira and the Lango subregion have many street people because parents were not guided about how to many children’s birth and care in the community.
He encourages other cultural, religious, and educational institutions in Uganda to join efforts to capitalize on demographic dividends.
Advance Family Planning (AFP) local partner Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU) has supported family planning advocacy in the Lira district of Lango since 2017. In 2019, during a meeting with the Lira district advocacy working group, a local district speaker identified the challenge of cultural leaders speaking negatively about family planning within the community. In August 2020, the National Population Council (NPC), a national governing body, held a meeting in Lira with representatives of the Lango Cultural Foundation, the kingdom’s governing body, on how to engage with cultural leaders to promote family planning. They identified the council of clan chiefs, overseen by the paramount Chief, His Highness the Won Nyaci me Lango Yossam Odur Ebii, as key to their advocacy efforts.
The writer of this article Aldon Walukamba is the RHU Media Advocacy and Documentation Coordinator
References
Uganda Bureau of Statistics (2016). Uganda Demographic and Health Survey 2016. Retrieved from https://dhsprogram.com/publications/publication-FR333-DHS-Final-Reports.cfm
Uganda Ministry of Health. Uganda District Health Information System (DHIS) 2. Accessed October 2022.
In Uganda nearly a third of all women become mothers during adolescence
As we celebrate the International Day of the Girl Child 2022, under the theme: “Our time is now – our rights, our future” research released by UNFPA, the UN sexual and reproductive health agency, reveals that nearly a third of all women in developing countries begin childbearing at age 18 or younger, and nearly half of first births to adolescents are to children or girls aged 16 or younger.
While global fertility has declined, the UNFPA data showed that women who began childbearing in adolescence had almost 5 births, with Uganda having 4.8 by the time they turned 40 in 2020.
“When nearly a third of all women in Uganda are becoming mothers during adolescence, it is clear the country is unknowingly ruining the future of adolescent girls,” said Dr. Peter Ibembe, Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU) Director of Programs.
“The repeat pregnancies we see among adolescent mothers are a glaring signpost that they desperately need sexual and reproductive health information and services” said Bishop Kipto Masaba of Sebei Diocese.
This is evident in the Butaleja district, where Uganda’s youngest grandma, aged 27, was born in 2021.
Additional childbirth in adolescence is frequent among child moms after having their first kid. Nearly three-quarters of females who have their first child at the age of 14 or less have a second child in adolescence, and 40% of those who have two children have a third before leaving adolescence.
Giving birth complications are a primary cause of mortality, 368 deaths per 100,000 in Uganda (UBOS,2021) and injury among teenage girls, but being an adolescent mother may also result in grave abuses of their human rights and serious societal implications, such as child marriage, intimate-partner violence, and mental health concerns. The youngest child mothers face the most dangers.
There is positive evidence of decreased levels of motherhood in childhood and adolescence over the world. However, the rate of reduction has been frighteningly sluggish, frequently falling by barely three percentage points every decade.
“Governments need to invest in adolescent girls and help expand their opportunities, resources, and skillsets, thereby helping avoid early and unintended pregnancies,” said UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem. “When girls can meaningfully chart their own life course, motherhood in childhood will grow increasingly rare.”
The report makes policymakers recommendations such as providing comprehensive sexuality education, mentorship, social support, and quality health services to girls, as well as providing economic support to families and engaging local organizations, all within a supportive policy and legal framework that recognizes the rights, capacities, and needs of adolescents, particularly marginalized adolescent girls.
We think, in collaboration with our partners, that girls are ready for a lifetime of rapid progress. It is time for all of us to take responsibility – with and for girls – and invest in a future that values their agency, leadership, and potential.
A call to action
From October 2022 through October 2023, we will urge for increased focus, investment, and action on:
- Supporting teenage girls’ leadership at the forefront of change initiatives, including hearing their views, responding to their requests, and creating places for their involvement in decision-making
- Increasing resources and investments in teenage females, including networks and organizations that advocate for excellent, inclusive education and promote their well-being
- Improving access to and utilization of inclusive teenage girl-centered services at all times, but particularly during crisis response and recovery
The writer of this article Aldon Walukamba is the Media Advocacy and Documentation Coordinator at Reproductive Health Uganda
In Uganda safe spaces, toll free line offers SRHR information for young people
Uganda – “We’ve been told that our clinics bear peace – the clinic and what is offered in it,” said Demeter Margaret Namuyobo. She is the Medical Coordinator at Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU), where we present a safe space for women and young people in Uganda, to access sexual reproductive health services and information (SRHI).
Over the past 65 years, millions of marginalized and underserved people have entered Uganda, including internally displaced persons (IDPs), refugees, young people, and migrants fleeing economic and political instability in Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Burundi, and Rwanda.
New Patient care Centres in all 19 static RHU clinics and a toll-free line (0800299003), assist new arrivals in gaining access to SRHI services and information, as well as addressing urgent needs such as protection, shelter, food, and counseling.
Amid the noise, crowds, and queues at community outreaches and the static clinics, there is a door marked with the words
“This is the RHU safe space” – a place where young people and survivors of gender-based violence can come for guidance, care, and referrals to local networks of public services as well as resources on sexual and reproductive health.
“The people who come here have SRHI issues that require urgent attention, in most cases privately. They don’t understand most of the dialects spoken in Uganda, they haven’t eaten properly for a while, they hitchhiked – they are anxious and distressed,”. Namuyobo explained.
New arrivals, particularly women and young people, are welcomed into the safe space at the end of often long and difficult journeys.
While comprehensive data are unavailable, research and news reports have indicated women and young people face threats of gender-based violence and a lack of SRHI as they seek out better lives in the country.
To address these rights violations, RHU maintains 19 safe spaces across the country and the toll-free line (0800299003), where staff offer SRHI and work to identify instances of gender-based violence, offer case-management support, and refer survivors to corresponding public services. Teams also work with survivors to access health services, build safety plans, and monitor cases until resolution.
“RHU’s toll-free line and humanitarian response in Uganda is important to guarantee the health rights of marginalized and underserved people, especially young people, women, and girls,” said Tom Kulumba, who heads the RHU Gender and Youth department in Uganda.
In addition to sexual and reproductive health advice and gender-based violence support, each space accommodates breastfeeding mothers, and infant beds and provides free condoms and educational videos and games. Everyone is welcome, and the door is always open.
“Hundreds of vulnerable and underserved people have benefited from calling the RHU toll-free line,” Talent Emily, RHU toll-free line officer said. She contends that the callers are interested in family planning, infertility management, HIV, location of RU clinics, making appointments, and sexually transmitted infections (STI) management.
For some, this makes all the difference. “During an appointment, one woman mentioned her desire to use family planning,” Demeter Namuyobo recalled. “She put both hands on the table and said, ‘You are the first person so far who has looked at me, so I felt safe to open up – I think this is what sets us apart.”
As Ugandans face ongoing threats to their SRHI safety in some places – from a lack of essentials such as spaces, toll free lines, and medicine to political and socioeconomic crisis – RHU will continue its critical work of providing marginalized and vulnerable persons in their diversity a safe place to rest and recover.
The author Aldon Walukamba is a Media Advocacy and Documentation Coordinator at Reproductive Health Uganda