His Highness the Won Nyaci me Lango Yossam Odur Ebii, has appended his signature to 29 resolutions made by the Lango Cultural foundation, and geared towards achieving the demographic dividends.
“I have been saddened by the situation in my Kingdom. Yesterday a man was brought to me, he had slept with the daughter”- His highness the Won Nyaci me Lango, Yossam Odur Ebii.
He says that from this day going forward! WORD should be spread, people should have manageable children. Children they can take care of in Lango sub region and Uganda.
Jackson Chekweko, Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU) Executive Director has appreciated the commitment from Lango Cultural foundation and applauded the its leadership for the work done towards promoting family planning. He howver called for immediate action to end teenage pregnancies that are higher than the national average of 25% in most parts of Lango sub region.
“1 out 3 young girls in Lango is either pregnant or has had a child. But how many of these pregnancies end up in safe delivery? Or even unsafe abortions and how many have led to death? WE NEED TO ACT NOW” says Chekweko.
In September 2020, cultural leaders from the Lango Kingdom in northern Uganda for the first time signed a joint/group resolution to promote family planning. The resolution, which impacts all eight districts in the Lango region, will focus on educating communities about family planning and integrating family planning into the kingdom’s budget and development plan. Lango Kingdom’s cultural leaders are custodians of local traditions and important influencers of community values and health seeking behaviors.
Unmet need for family planning in the Lango region is 27.4% among married women and girls. Cultural preferences for large families and substantial dowries for young brides have traditionally hampered family planning use. This has contributed to a teen pregnancy rate of 35.2% in the region.
Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU) with support from Advance Family Planning 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, as key to their advocacy efforts.
The district working group brought together clan leaders in September 2020 to build consensus on the need to prioritize and promote family planning. Speakers from RHU; UNFPA; the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development; NPC; and the Lira district health officer shared compelling narratives and statistics highlighting the importance of family planning to support economic development and harness the demographic divided.
His Highness the Won Nyaci me Lango Yossam Odur Ebii, appending his signature
