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Kabarole Will Always Remember

Nine young people centred CSOs stormed Fort Portal City and Kabarole district. They bombarded schools. The city, district and the Tooro Kingdom leaderships were not spared.  The young people reached out to them. Preaching the gospel of sexuality education. KABAROLE WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER

Allow them do their Job

Who is protecting them from being finger pointed? Who is protecting them from false
accusations? Who can protect them from being stigmatised? We are talking about the
health cadres. Allow them do their Job

Boots on Ground

RHU has had her boots on the ground, joining different government ministries, departments and authorities to commemorate the different international days held in different districts. BOOTS ON GROUND

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

The SRHR Spotlight, RHU – October Issue

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