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FROM PROTECTING TEETH TO A SAVINGS GROUP

Chunga meno. Swahili for, protect your teeth! In Pajulu Sub County, Arua district, Driwala parish, to be specific is a phrase associated with success. Bizarre, right? True, Chungameno is a name of a saving’s group started by the women vendors of Driwala market. Besides the success harnessed therein, the genesis of this initiative leaves quite the tale.

Women were loosing their teeth to violent Husbands. So they formed a retaliation group to save their teeth! See how this group changed their lives forever!

The charged males would storm the market to grab whatever measly money their wives had made for the day and while at it, beat them up. Or worse, they would wait for them at home, alone, then beat them up to a point that they would lose teeth. A particular group women, about 12, noticed that this was first getting out of hand.

“Women were not settled, there was total chaos!” Harriet Afetia, a leader of the saving’s group, and among the 12 women, narrates. “At least every week, one or two women would have a bruise or lose teeth, it was terrible!” The men wanted to control their money and were frustrated that their wives wouldn’t let them, so they beat them. “We got tired, we decided to do something about it!” Interestingly, it was that decision that started the journey that would later attract a project called prevention plus.

Harriet Afetia, Savings group leader

 The story

It was a little over 10 years ago when the women made the decision to take matters into their own hands. See, that afternoon, one of them came to the market bleeding from her mouth and the teeth were just about to come out. She had come to close down her stall and leave the village and her marriage all together. These women gathered together, concerned really, and asked what the issue was this time round. “My husband came back and didn’t find lunch ready, he pounced on me, hit my mouth and left my teeth shaky and gum bleeding,” the woman responded. Puzzled, her fellow women asked, “Lunch, couldn’t he cook it too?”

And just like that, one woman burst out: “We must protect ourselves and protect our teeth!” And these market women, locked in this bitter moment, many of whom didn’t have front teeth, agreed that they would start a group and the name would be, Chungameno! Not two words, but one word.  “Chungameno came to arrest the situation!” Afetia exclaims.

But it wasn’t just the violent men that they sought to deal with, even within themselves, they insisted no one better be the perpetuator of violence. They didn’t lay a hand on anyone, but with up to 12 women, matching and chanting towards your home, most men had no alternative but go where the own wanted them to go, a police station. The Sub County leadership was impressed, and they asked police to work with the women.

“As soon we heard that one of us had been beaten, quickly we went as a group and arrested that man,” she recalls. They had become a mob! These women became each other’s keepers, but try as they may, they knew they needed a better strategy, dragging man after man to police was not going to be enough. They were in luck, news of their little group had reached Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU). Soon, their leader, Afetia would be called for a Prevention Plus training, by RHU, a thing they learnt gave their group just the backbone it needed.

Prevention plus impact felt

“During the training, we dealt with the root of all this violence,” Afetia starts. “It was not enough to just keep matching our husbands to police, we needed to find a way to work with them.” Instead of treating the symptom, the Prevention plus training sought to deal with the cause. After sessions of dialogue, training and discussions, she learnt that if money and how money was spent was indeed the cause of most of the bickering, didn’t it make sense to then deal with that issue?

“That training helped me understand this problem properly,” she recalls. The first suggestion was that But first they would need to start a saving’s group! See, while they had been occasionally saving, it was not as comital, and the highest amount many saved was shs500. “I came back also and encouraged the group to first of all start putting more money aside,” she says. The goal was first to make sure no one had all their money on them; so they decided to put the minimum weekly savings at shs2000. They would save all year and only distribute at the end of the year.

But before all of this, they needed to discuss how to include their husbands in this growth. “After distributing the money like this, we always ask these women what they are going to do with the money,” she tells of how the discussion to include men begun. But also, the group attracted the RHU camp; the Prevention Plus team came to offer their services but also preach unity and inclusiveness in families, as opposed to just dealing with the culprits.

Soon, wives begun encouraging their husbands to attend the group meetings and save together. “During these meetings, the people from RHU would come and also teach couples about dangers of violence,” she recalls. This group that started out with just 12 members was now at nearly 200 members, with large number of couples jointly saving and many not even vendors.

Unity and inclusiveness

Rophin Agamile his wife Christine Bako and their family

Rophin Agamile, the area Local Councilor was the first male to join the group, and more than just save, his wife Christine Bako says he has become a better man. Agamile tells of how a session he attended that had guests from South Africa left him a changed man. “I was called as LC1 to welcome the visitors to the Chunagmeno group to talk about Prevention Plus,” he recalls. “These were guests from South Africa who had come to talk to the women’s group, I was impressed by what they said!”

The topic around Father’s Legacy hit a raw nerve. “As a father, what kind of example was I setting?” he remembers asking himself. Agamile used to abuse alcohol, return home in the wee hours to start fights. “When I was around the compound, the children were all quiet!” he narrates regretfully. “As a man, I used not to give chance to my madam to say a word; my words in fact were final in the home.” On a good note, Bako says that man is long gone. “My husband is good to me and my children,” she starts. “Can you believe we save together, we clean and cook food together, and he plays with the children?”

Almost instantly, their little child runs into Agamile’s hands, the peace in their homestead is visible, but is what Afetia said that made this even better. “Rophin is just one example, there are many men who came to save money, but instead became good fathers and husbands,” she says. “We invited the Prevention Plus team to train us on how to keep peace in our homes, and now no single member of our group has lost a tooth since.”

‘We’re not baby factories’: the refugees trying injectable contraceptives

‘We’re not baby factories’: the refugees trying injectable contraceptives- Article from the Guardian.com 

Women who’ve fled South Sudan to Uganda are overcoming social stigma to explore new family planning options.

Christine Lamwaka fled South Sudan and now lives in the Palabek refugee settlement in Uganda. Photograph: Samuel Okiror

Christine Lamwaka and her husband gathered their six children and fled. It was April 2017 and their town in South Sudan had just been attacked. They walked for two days from Eastern Equatoria before crossing the border into Uganda.

“It was hard to flee with the young children. We struggled to run. I thought we couldn’t make it alive,” says Lamwaka, who was 22 at the time of the attack.

“We suffered a lot. I had given birth just a few months before and was breastfeeding. The children were crying. We are lucky to be alive.”

As well as ensuring her children were safe and the family had food and shelter, Lamwaka wanted to make sure she didn’t have any more children. But she was unable to access family planning services.

many children is very hard. We don’t have money for treating them, feeding and providing basic necessities,” says Lamwaka, from the safety of Palabek refugee settlement in Lamwo, northern Uganda. “We couldn’t afford to add more children.”

Research conducted by the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine last year found that more than 40% of women in refugee settlements in northern Uganda who wanted to use contraceptives were unable to obtain them.

“Many health facilities in refugee camps are out or under-stocked,” said Simon Richard Mugenyi, advocacy and communications manager at Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU). Those seeking services often have to wait for organisations such as RHU to provide them.

South Sudanese refugees in the Palabek camp in Lamwo, northern Uganda. Photograph: James Akena/Reuters

Last year, however, Lamwaka enrolled in a pilot programme for a single-use, self-injectable contraceptive, Sayana Press. The contraceptive is being rolled out by the NGO Path Uganda, with support from the UN population fund (UNFPA), to promote increased uptake of family planning among refugees.”

In South Sudan, deep-rooted socio-cultural factors discourage family planning. The inevitable upshot is larger families. On average, women in South Sudan have 4.6 children. Among women aged 15 to 49 who are married or in a relationship, only 10% use any form of contraception. According to the UNFPA, this is the lowest rate in east and southern Africa, and many women have their first child while in their teens.

“I started giving birth while still a teenager. I was giving birth almost every year. There was no time to rest or for child spacing,” says Lamwaka.

“They need you to produce more children. Women are looked at as factories for babies. Men expect women to be producing a child every year.

“Women are not allowed to decide the number, timing and spacing of children.”

Uganda now hosts more than 1.3 million refugees, more than 850,000 of whom are from South Sudan.

About 75% of the more than 50,000 South Sudanese refugees at Palabek are women and children.

Lamwaka was pleased when she found out about the self-injectable contraception, which is taken every three months. It means she won’t have to seek out a health worker when she needs it, which is not always straightforward in a refugee camp.

Christine Lamwaka and her husband Solomon Olum decided that Christine should enrol in the Sayana Press programme. Photograph: Samuel Okiror

She and her husband, Solomon Olum, decided she should enrol in the programme. “We are struggling to raise these children. I don’t have a job. I am a farmer. But I don’t have enough land to farm here. I have to burn charcoal and do hard labour to get money to support the family,” says Olum.

More than 9,000 women began taking Sayana Press, a variation on the established contraceptive Depo-Provera, between April and November last year.

Edson Twesigye, a programme officer for Sayana Press, says the pilot scheme resulted in 43% more women accessing contraceptive services.

“This is a big achievement,” he says. “These are refugee women who had never used any family planning method in their lives because of cultural beliefs, lack of access, or other reasons. Reaching 43% is a great milestone.”

Julitta Onabanjo, the UNFPA regional director for east and southern Africa, says: “This is something we can take as a lesson learned as we look at how to introduce it into [our] programmes in other countries.”

Millions of women still don’t have access to contraceptives – report

There were social stigmas to overcome before the rollout of the new contraceptive, says Twesigye. His team had conversations with community and religious leaders, to position family planning “not as a way of stopping having children, as they thought, but as a way of planning how many children you want, when to have them and when to stop,” he explains.

He adds that men in village health teams in the area were also talking to other men to help them better understand family planning.

“Many women in these settings have a desire to plan their families and don’t have any method that suits them. Therefore being able to give them any option of [family planning] method is very important,” says Onabanjo.

Mugenyi says the Ugandan government must spend more on contraceptives, starting with the allocation of the $5m (£3.8m) it committed to provide each year at the family planning summit held in 2017.

“If the government honored this commitment, this would help to stock family planning commodities in public facilities, including those in refugee camps,” he says

WE SHOULD LEARN THE FEELINGS OF EACH GENERATION- REVEREND GIDEON BYAMUGISHA

Reverend Gideon Byamugisha joins a panel discussion at the IGD

Recently, Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU) joined a horde of stakeholders for the intergenerational dialogue under the theme; Expanding Possibilities: Lifestyle, Innovation and Power. The Intergenerational Dialogue (IGD), an annual one-day high-level advocacy platform looks to fosters structured conversations on Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) issues affecting adolescents and young people in Uganda.

Hosted by Reach A Hand Uganda (RAHU) in collaboration with other partners like RHU, IT brought together young people, government officials (ministry technocrats), policymakers, leaders (opinion, religious, cultural and political leaders) development partners, media and civil society among others to deliberate on a range SRHR issues, policies and campaigns. We thought therefore, for purposes of continued discussion, we would highlight some of the conversations that stood out, starting with the Question and Answer session we had with Reverend Gideon Byamugisha. (more…)

WHY WOULD GIRLS LEARN ABOUT CANADIAN PRAIRIES AND NOT ABOUT THEIR BODIES- RAYMOND MUJUNI

Raymond Mujuni
(Facebook Pic)

Re-known NBS investigative journalist, Raymond Mujuni joined a panel discussion in the just concluded Intergenerational Dialogue. We decided to not just pay attention but bring you some of the highlights from his panel discussion. (more…)

We are Hiring:

Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU) is a Member Association of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), and its core mandate is to champion, provide and enable universal access to rights-based Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) information and services to vulnerable and underserved communities and to young people.  The role of the engagement with RHU and its partners is to ensure that SRHR are respected, protected and fulfilled as a goal in itself, and as a fundamental means to gender equality, human well-being and sustainable development.

RHU, in partnership with Frontline AIDS (FA), seeks to recruit highly-skilled, experienced and motivated persons to fill the following positions;

Job Title:                               Program Coordinator – Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) Umbrella Programme (1 Post)

Duty Station:                       Kampala                                 

Job Reports to:                    Service Delivery Manager

Job Role:      

Responsible for coordinating and supporting a partnership of seven national Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) under the SRHR Umbrella Program, and provide regular technical support supervision to ensure effective delivery of the program in line with RHU’s strategic direction as well as Frontline AIDS and donor requirements.

Key Result Areas

1. Provide strategic and operational oversight of the SRHR Umbrella Programme implementation in Uganda
2. Liaise and work closely with Frontline Aids on all aspects of Umbrella project Management.
3. Coordinate essential planning, technical support, monitoring, and reporting processes
4. Ensure that the SRHR Umbrella Programme implementation is on track and provide support, where needed, in close collaboration with the RHU Senior Programme Management Team
5. Work with the Senior Programme Management Team to ensure that the programme is in line with the RHU strategic plan as well as the Frontline AIDS global strategy, good practice programming standards and the overall programme framework and principles; and that it is of an acceptable quality, generates and uses available evidence, and produces tangible results.
6. Support the functioning of the donor relations as required
7. Ensure good communication, coordination and collaboration within the Core Team and with consortium partners. This includes the establishment of a sound programme communication system in consultation with Frontline Aids and RHU Senior Management Team.
8. Perform any other professional duties as may be assigned by the supervisor

Training and Experience

• A Bachelor’s degree in Medicine or any other health-related field from a recognized Institution
• A relevant postgraduate qualification such as Public Health, Project Planning and Management, etc will be an added advantage
• At least 4 years of relevant experience from a reputable organization in a similar role

Knowledge, Skills and Temperament

• Knowledge of SRHR and HIV/AIDS Programming
• Knowledge in Human Rights-Based Approaches
• Familiar with the implementation of HIV/AIDS and reproductive health Programmes
• Knowledge and experience of Key Population (KP) programming; and willingness to work with KP organizations and programmes
• Knowledge of current policies and laws related to Reproductive Health and HIV AIDS.
• A good communicator and team leader
• Extensive knowledge and experience with the Project cycle management; partnership and stakeholder building
• Networking and stakeholder management and advocacy
• Partner capacity development
• Documentation, information management, and reporting

Other Personal Attributes

• Collaborative, analytical, and highly organised
• The candidate must adhere to the safeguarding reporting and monitoring requirements of this role
• The candidate must be pro-choice

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Job Title:       Monitoring and Evaluation Officer-SRHR Umbrella Program (I Post)

Duty Station: Kampala

Job Role:       Responsible for providing Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) support across the SRHR-Umbrella Programme, ensuring timely and accurate submission of data and adherence to SRHR-Umbrella Program protocol, standards, and timelines.

Reports to:   Monitoring and Evaluation Manager

Key Result Areas

1. Support programme Research, Monitoring, and Evaluation activities and ensure the strategy is on track and regularly updated
2. Consolidate and analyze project service statistics and advise project partners about performance progress in relation to the program performance plan
3. Consolidate and analyze program outputs, targets, and indicators and share them with RHU management, project partners and other stakeholders periodically
4. Support the production, dissemination and utilization of evidence-based project research results
5. Participate in monitoring and evaluation of project performance including routine analysis of field or partner reports and aggregation of the same for sharing with project stakeholders.
6. Participate in Project and overall organizational programme planning and budgeting and production of periodic reports
7. Participate in Project processes to develop new initiatives/ technologies in M&E ensuring project design builds on experience
8. Perform any other professional duties as may be assigned by the supervisor.

Outputs and Outcomes

• SRHR-Umbrella program outputs compiled
• SRHR-Umbrella Project service statistics compiled and analysed
• Research needs identified
• SRHR-Umbrella project monitored, evaluated and outputs shared with relevant stakeholder
• Data from relevant partners regularly validated and analysed
• Partner Staff trained in M&E, and research methods
• Periodic operational research conducted

Training and experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Population and Reproductive Health, Statistics, or Computer Science.
• Conversant with Computer packages such as SPSS, Epinfo, Stata, SAS etc. and with experience in qualitative as well as quantitative data analysis and dissemination.

• At least three (3) years’ experience in implementing M&E activities for HIV/SRHR Programmes in Uganda
• Proven success in designing, implementing and operating project M&E systems from project initiation to closeout stages
• Experience with data management practices and procedures for large-scale programmes
• Experience implementing procedures and practices to ensure data quality and verification, including data quality assessments
• Experience using DHIS2 for data collection, reporting and visualization
• Experience with using supportive approaches to building capacity of partner organizations (sub-grantees) to accurately record, document, report and use data
• Experience in social research, database design and maintenance for at least three years.

Knowledge, skills, and temperament

• Knowledge of major evaluation methodologies (e.g., qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method) and data collection and analysis methodologies
• Proven technical skills in data management including data collection, cleaning, analysis and use across complex, large scale Programmes
• Skilled at and passionate about supporting the use of data for decision-making, strategizing and course correction

Other Personal Attributes

• Collaborative, analytical, and highly organised
• The candidate must adhere to the safeguarding reporting and monitoring requirements of this role
• The candidate must be pro-choice

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Job Title:                               Senior Finance Officer-SRHR Umbrella Program (1 Post)

Duty Station:                       Kampala

Job Reports to:                    Director of Finance and Administration

Job Role:                              

Responsible for supporting the SRHR Umbrella Partner Organizations to have good financial planning and management as well as overall compliance with Frontline AIDS and RHU policies, donor and government rules and regulations. Also responsible for strengthening inter-departmental synergies between finance, programs and administration. He/ She is responsible for managing a system that ensures cost-effective use of human, financial and material resources of the SRHR-Umbrella Program.

Key Result Areas

1. Support a Portfolio of Partner Organizations:

• Supports a portfolio of SRHR-Umbrella Programme partner organizations, ensuring reported costs and balances are accounted for accurately, reviewed and reconciled in a timely manner
• Further manage the budgets within the SRHR-Umbrella grant, ensuring these are captured accurately and managed according to agreed processes
• Serve as an operational finance point of contact for all partners, providing the support needed to ensure that partners’ financial management is accurate and following SIDA requirements
• Liaise directly with Frontline Aids finance team to ensure financial reporting and accounting is completed effectively and on time
• Works proactively to identify and mitigate financial risk at all levels.

2. Reporting and Auditing: 

• Ensures the completeness and accuracy of partner reports sent to Frontline Aids
• Maintains sight of budget expenditures and supports partners in analysing and managing grant financial data
• Maintains rigorous documentation of costs incurred at partner and Co-ordinating partner-level following the requirements of Frontline AIDS and SIDA
• Support Frontline AIDS and RHU’s internal audit departments with grant audit processes and tasks.

3. Developing RHU’s culture:

Sets a good example for others, shows consistency in words and actions, learns from personal and organizational experience, strives for self-improvement, earns the trust and respect of management, colleagues and partner organizations, and treats others with respect.

Training and Experience

• A Bachelor’s Degree in a Finance and Accounting related field from a recognized Institution, plus a full professional qualification in Accountancy such as ACCA, CPA, ACIS and CPE obtained from a recognized institution
• Professional training in management and administration
• Working knowledge of at least one accounting software is a requirement and practical knowledge of Navision, Quickbooks, etc will be an added advantage
• Minimum of two (2) years working experience, preferably in a reputable Multi-donor, Non-Governmental Organization (NGO).

Knowledge, Skills and Temperament

• The candidate should have a balance of financial management and accounting skills and the ability to work effectively with a range of civil society organisations in Uganda
• Demonstrated ability in administration;
• Problem solving, Decision making and a Team Player
• Excellent communication, leadership and management skills, hands-on and interactive; an assertive strategic thinker
• Focused on quality standards, and ethics and integrity.

Other Personal Attributes

• The candidate must adhere to the safeguarding, reporting and monitoring requirements of this role
• The candidate must be pro-choice

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Job Title:                              Project Coordinator –PITCH Project (1 Post)

Duty Station:                       Kampala

Reports to:                           Advocacy and Communications Manager

Job Role:

Responsible for coordinating Advocacy initiatives/activities in line with RHU’s strategic direction and thematic objectives and provide leadership for the Partnership to Inspire, Transform and Connect the HIV Response (PITCH) project implementation

Project Duration:   1 Year

Key Result Areas

1. Coordinate and provide technical support to Frontline AIDS PITCH partners in Uganda
2. Work closely with FRONTLINE AIDS in all aspects of project management and donor reporting
3. Support and share timelines with PITCH Implementing Partners (IPs) to develop and submit quarterly and annual work plans, budgets and reports to RHU and FRONTLINE AIDS.
4. Respond to and follow up information requests from FRONTLINE AIDS on PITCH and RHU Advocacy initiatives
5. Consolidate Frontline AIDS PITCH work plans, budgets, and reports and share with FRONTLINE AIDS
6. Review and advise/ recommend for approval expenditures against set budget lines for PITCH

• Coordinate all implementing partners and ensure that their capacity is built to deliver on the project.
• Work with the Country Focal Person (CFP) to monitor progress of PITCH project in Uganda.
• Ensure availability of harmonized project implementation among the IPs and other stakeholder
• Provide technical support and guidance to strategic planning processes on key Advocacy initiatives that RHU and PITCH partners could undertake.
• Track trends in resource mobilisation and contemporary advocacy work, document and provide advice/ recommendations
• Alongside the communications specialist, support PITCH and RHU IPs with development and implementation of the Communication strategy, documentation of programmatic best practices and case studies for dissemination to and utilization by relevant stakeholders
• Ensure effective communication flow amongst PITCH Implementing Partners (IPS), within and outside RHU
• Perform any other professional duties as may be assigned by the supervisor

Training and Experience

• A Bachelor’s degree in Development Studies, Public Health, Social Sciences or any relevant degree.
• A relevant postgraduate qualification such as Project Planning and Management, Training in Advocacy Research, Advocacy strategy and Analysis will be an added advantage
• Knowledge in Human Rights-Based Approaches
• At least 3 years of relevant experience from a reputable organization in a similar role

Knowledge, Skills and Temperament

• Knowledge of SRHR and HIV/AIDS Advocacy work
• Familiar with the implementation of HIV/AIDS and reproductive health Programs and Working with key Populations targeted organisations.
• Knowledge of current policies and laws related to Reproductive Health and HIV AIDS.
• Knowledgeable of priority populations for HIV interventions in Uganda.
• Knowledge and experience with the Project cycle management
• Networking and stakeholder management and advocacy
• Partner capacity development
• Documentation, information management, and reporting
• A good communicator

Other Personal Attributes

• Collaborative, analytical, and highly organised
• The candidate must adhere to the safeguarding reporting and monitoring requirements of this role
• The candidate must be pro-choice

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Job Title:                   Front Desk Assistant (1Post)

Duty Station:           Kampala

Reports to:               Administrative Officer

Job Role:                   Management of the reception, telephone records, message services and other general duties

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

1. Operate RHU’s switchboard, handling all incoming and outgoing telephone calls in a professional manner including routing calls to appropriate staff according to RHU procedures.
2. Greet and warmly welcome visitors to the Offices, ensuring they sign in the visitor’s book and informing the relevant member of staff of their arrival and keep their records.
3. Develop and maintain a tracking system on all incoming & outgoing mails and courier items for the office
4. Check and sign for deliveries, and actively distribute all incoming mails before informing the relevant member of staff/ offices of their arrival. Follow procedures and ensure security of valuables.
5. Ensure that relevant notices are displayed on staff notice boards in an orderly manner and regularly update materials displayed.
6. Monitor and ensuring that the reception/ front and rear entrances of the building are kept clean and tidy.
7. Report telephone equipment and line faults to the IT coordinator.
8. Perform any other professional duties as may be assigned by the supervisor.

Training and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Office Management, Secretarial, or related field.
• Experience working with a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) not less than 2 years, will be an added advantage.

Knowledge, Skills and temperament

• Knowledge about RHU’s core business
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Competency in Microsoft office applications including Word, Excel, and Outlook.
• Good time management skills, good memory, multitasking and visitor support
• Experience with administrative and clerical procedures
• Able to contribute positively as part of a team, helping out with various tasks as required
• Positive and enthusiastic, Integrity, tact and diplomacy
• Flexible, confident and polite attitude
• Professional dress code and good telephone manners

How to apply

Submit by post, email or hand-deliver application letters and attach certified copies of academic transcripts, a detailed Curriculum Vitae and other relevant documents as well the contact addresses (e-mail) of 3 referees including their telephone contacts to:

The Executive Director, Reproductive Health Uganda, P.O. Box 10746 Kampala

Or hand-deliver at: RHU Head Office, Plot 2, Katego Road – Tufnell Drive, Off Kiira Road, Kamwokya – Kampala, Uganda.

Closing Date:  6^th December, 2019. Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted

NB:  Female applicants are encouraged to apply

WHEN THE YOUNG PEOPLE MET AND DIALOGUED

It might have been a dump morning that morphed into a drizzly day, but it didn’t define the RHU-organised Inter-University Dialogue that happened over the weekend at Makerere University. Over one thousand students from a host of different institutions around the country thronged the Freedom Square in what would be an intense dialogue into sexuality, culture and religion. (more…)

THE INTER UNIVERSITY DIALOGUE (IUD) ON SEXUALITY EDUCATION

What we are up to!

We are dreaming of a Uganda where everyone’s SRHR are fulfilled and protected without discrimination! Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU) established in 1957, is continuing to champion, provide and enable universal access to rights based SRHR information and services to vulnerable and undeserved communities especially young people (15-30 Years).

As a Member Association of International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPPF), the world largest SRHR organisation, RHU continues to advocate, accelerate access to priority integrated Sexual and Reproductive Health services amidst complementing government efforts to increase access to SRHR services and information.

What is the IUD?

Targeting over 1000 state and non-state actors in higher institutions of learning, the Inter University Dialogue (IUD) is an annual one-day Uganda National interactive Sexuality advocacy platform that brings together students, top academia, cultural, religious leaders, health professionals, media and policy makers in higher institutions of learning directly for a Sexual Health conversation in pursuit of safer spaces for all students.

#IUDUg19 aspires to promote Sexual health as a fundamental human right to all people without discrimination. It is tailored to move with the rest of the world to commemorate the World Sexual Health Day.

Our theme:

The #IUDug19 will be held under the theme “The Role of Culture and Religion in Promoting Better Sexual Health Outcomes.”

We also hope that the #IUDUg19 will increase awareness on the role of culture and religion in shaping positive discussions on Sexuality Education in Uganda today, be a listening and learning avenue for policy makers at different levels to Young people’s life experiences which can shape and promote responsive policies for addressing better health outcomes. We want to empower young people to progressively participate and share opinions regarding policy development and performance in Uganda will be realised

How do i register?

Click link to register for free Here

I had a vasectomy and I am doing just fine- RDC Koboko

Reproductive Health Uganda recently had a brief chat with the Resident District Commissioner (RDC) of Koboko District, Yahaya Kawooya, about his decision to have a vasectomy. Mr Kawooya, also a male cahampion of family planning had this to say:

(more…)

Why Contraceptives?

Every 26th of September is World contraception day. The theme this year is ”The power of options ”. There’s 7 billion of us on this planet and the population just keeps growing. Babies are awesome. They have cute beady eyes, infectious smiles, that baby talk we love but don’t understand, the adorable outfits for the gram… and when they grow up you can send them to fetch the remote. It’s all too precious. But we can’t keep popping them out like there’s free resources just lying around. As awesome as babies can be, do not get entrapped by the peer pressure from friends or family to have as many than you can feed!

How long till you pop out the next kid?

It all depends on the couple’s plan. Some babies are oops babies. Precious nonetheless. A newborn can take over your life. So try to think about whether you and your partner have the time and energy a baby requires. And ask yourselves whether your other children are ready to deal with the reality of a baby in the home. Studies suggest that getting pregnant within 18 months after your first child is born can make it more likely that your second child will be born early, underweight, or smaller than usual. So…. you might want to wait for at least 24 months.

What Can I get on?

What works for your unique body and lifestyle won’t necessarily work for someone else. There’s no “perfect” one, but there is probably one out there that’s perfect for you. And what works for you now might not work for you in 10 years. Mum and dad need to work this out together. Talk to your doctor. Based on your age, lifestyle and medical conditions, they’ll let you know what works best. Our professional doctors at all our branches country wide are happy to take you through a range of options that might work to you! Click here to reach out!

Short Term Options??

• Contraceptive injection (renewed every eight weeks or every 12 weeks, depending on the type)
• Combined pill (taken every day for three weeks out of every month)
• Progesterone-only pill (taken every day)
• Contraceptive patch (renewed each week for three weeks in every month)
• Condoms
• Rhythm method

Long term options?

• Vasectomy
• Tubal Ligation
• IUD

Religious leaders caution on giving birth too early, too soon and too often

IRC was well represented

In the third and just concluded National Family Planning Conference held at Munyonyo, the religious leaders’ presence was hard to miss. It was how further in they leaned towards accepting family planning as a tool for achieving development that stood for us as Reproductive Health Uganda. Speaking on behalf of the Archbishop-elect, Samuel Stephen Kaziimba, Sheikh Ali Waiswa, Deputy Mufti, Uganda religious leaders’ council, re-affirmed this commitment. (more…)