According to Jackson Chekweko, Executive Director of Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU), humanitarian organizations must prioritize displaced adolescents’ sexual and reproductive health needs as soon as possible during a crisis to protect young people from sexual violence, sexually transmitted diseases, and early pregnancy.
Chekweko says that although relief agencies focus on providing food, water, and shelter for refugees in emergencies, the sexual and reproductive health needs of vulnerable displaced young people, particularly girls, are often overlooked or ignored entirely.
“We’re urging humanitarian organizations to include adolescent reproductive health services right from the start of any emergency response,” Chekweko told reporters at RHU headquarters.
With funding from the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), RHU, together with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Office of the Prime Minister in Uganda (OPM), and Medical Teams International, collaborated on a two-year project in Adjumani and Kampala refugee settings.
According to Annet Kyarimpa, the RHU-DANIDA MoFA project lead and manager for safe motherhood, governments, donors, and humanitarian and development organizations in Uganda are effectively addressing adolescents’ sexual and reproductive health risks in crisis situations.
Members of refugee communities say the cost of not doing so or disregarding adolescent sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is enormous, especially in locations like Adjumani and Kampala, which have expanding and chronic refugee populations due to violence and natural catastrophes.
Young people are not only a significant subgroup, but they also make up the majority of the population in many conflict and post-conflict zones. More than half of the population in conflict zones like South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Burundi, and Ethiopia is under the age of 20, according to Robert Andeoye, Pagirinya refugee camp Commandant.
Aldon Walukamba G, the author, is the RHU Media Advocacy and Documentation Coordinator.
