Parliamentarians from Africa and Asia have commended Reproductive Health Uganda’s (RHU) work in promoting sexual reproductive health rights (SRHR) services and Family Planning (FP).
While visiting RHU headquarters and Katego clinic, the parliamentarians were thrilled with RHU operations and promised to advocate a replica in Uganda and their home countries.
The purpose of the visit was to furnish the parliamentarians with what RHU has been does in reaching out to communities about sexual reproductive health rights (SRHR) services and Family Planning (FP). The parliamentarians from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Cameroon, Chad, Liberia among others, applauded RHU and its management in executing out workable strategies in promoting SRHR and FP.
Jackson Chekweko, RHU Executive Director in his remarks welcomed the parliamentarians to Uganda and RHU. He communicated to the visitors that RHU provides services in the hardest to reach and underserved parts of Uganda.
“We offer SRHR services in 29 districts of Uganda through 768 service points, 17 static clinics, 74 mobile facilities, 35 associated clinics and a network of hundreds of community-based organizations” Chekweko said.
The RHU Executive Director, also informed the parliamentarians, that over 1.5 million young people, women and men in Uganda are direct beneficiaries of RHU services per annum. This is achieved through the various service delivery and points located all over the country. He also said that RHU has a long standing experience of providing integrated comprehensive SRHR services and has championed the role of sexuality education in the country.
He however reiterated that in Uganda, “SRHR is not considered as an essential service which even worsened during the COVID19 pandemic crisis” Chekweko said.
Dr. Peter Ibembe, RHU Director of Programs communicated about the ICPD25 journey to the parliamentarians. He said that the Civil Society Organizations (CSO’s) like RHU are making strides in complementing government programs.
“In 2019 RHU while working with the National Population Council (NPC) mobilized CSOs to organize the pre ICPD25 symposium. Through this symposium a position paper was developed and commitments made” Dr. Ibembe said.
Dr Ibembe, said that amidst the COVID19 pandemic, RHU has so far provided 7.2 million integrated SRHR services, which include family planning, HIC prevention, care and treatment, breast and cervical cancer screening, sexually transmitted infections management etc. to more than 1.2 million people.
The young SRHR volunteers were also represented by Daisy Kandole, and Brian Ssekajja, SRHR advocates and volunteers at RHU.
Daisy Kandole, disclosed that RHU has empowered her as a young person to know her rights to reproductive health and also become an advocate of Sexual Reproductive Health.
“ the different youth friendly services and programmes that RHU offers, to many young people like her have been empowered and can make better choices regarding their sexual reproductive health rights” Kandole said.
On the other hand Brian Ssekaja, mentioned that RHU offers him a platform to advocate for reproductive health services to young people. He says that through his voulunteering work and services at RHU, he has been able to tlk to young people in schools and so extending SRHR information to them. He adds that COVID19 has affected most of te work young people have been doing through RHU because schools have been closed and most young people are at home.
Esther Chandiru, is a female sex worker from Bwaise, in Kampala – Uganda. She said that she was reffered to RHU clinic Bwaise by a friend of hers.
Esther, commends RHU for the many times she has visited the Bwaise clinic, she has been charged fairly and sometimes offered free outreach services, unlike at other health centers charge a lot of money.
There after Jackson Chekweko, RHU ED presented some challenges faced by RHU to the parliamentarians.
“COVID19 has hit the organization so hard. Some of the development partners that have been supporting RHU have also stopped because they also have their own financial problems caused by the COVID19 pandemic. We need to engage some of these partners like the UK government that have cut funding to some of the ongoing projects. He challenged the different MPs to play a role in advocating for health funds and grunts to developing countries like Uganda” Chekweko said.
He also disclosed that there are limited resources allocated to reproductive health. The resources are not enough to serve the growing population in the country.
In his closing remarks the leader of the delegation Hon. Constantino from Tanzania commended RHU for the work they do to extend sexual reproductive health rights especially to young people and marginalized communities.
Hon. Constantino also presented a gift to RHU through the executive director from the entire delegation.
Centre – RHU ED Jackson Chekweko with Parliamentarians from Africa and Asia at RHU Headquarters
