Tagged as: ACCESS project

Kyangwali Settlement Stakeholders Call for Continued SRHR Service Delivery as ACCESS Project Closes

Stakeholders in the Kyangwali refugee settlement in Kikuube district are calling for continued sexual reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services, if there is to be a tremendous reduction in unplanned births, maternal deaths, teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections.  In 2021, Reproductive Health Uganda’s (RHU) ACCESS, a project funded by the United Kingdom government (UKaid) was launched in the Kikuube district to accelerate the acquisition of enhanced and integrated SRHR and family planning services among the refugees and host communities in Kyangwali refugee settlement.

According to Dr. Peter Ibembe, RHU Director of Programs, the project focused on strengthening public systems to integrate and adopt SRHR services through training village health teams (VHTs), peer educators to provide home care.

The ACCESS project was also launched to co-produce solutions that improve preparedness efforts, response, and recovery efforts and that tackle urgent and sensitive SRHR issues.

The ACCESS project was reduced to nine months from three years after @UKaid called off funding its implementation.

This stunned RHU the ACCESS project implementers and stakeholders like United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), Office the Prime Minister (OPM), Medical Teams International (MTI), Kikuube district local government, and Spice FM.

Kyangwali refugee settlement was selected to benefit from the project because:

• more than 30 women were dying each month from birth-related complications
• 600 babies are body every month
• The host communities and 130,000 refugees are underserved with family planning and other SRHR services
• High cases of teenage pregnancies, sexual and gender-based violence
• High HIV/ AIDS prevalence and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs)

However, within nine months of operation, 8000 people have benefited from free SRHR services, 60 VHT’s trained, and 20 health care providers. The project also provided bicycles to VHT’s, sanitation equipment and conducted outreaches at all health Centers in the Kikuube district.

However, as the project winds up in the district, stakeholders argue that the SRHR services offered and ACCESS project gains must be sustained.

Nicholas Kwikiriza, Kikuube district health officer says without the RHU – ACCESS project, maternal health challenges, teenage pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections, and gender-based violence may increase. He calls on the OPM, UNHCR, and MTI to continue supporting the RHU – ACCESS project.

“the UNHCR, MTI, and OPM need to come out bravely to support RHU – ACCESS project to continue because of the demand for SRHR services and family planning created by the RHU – ACCESS project,” Kwikiriza said.

Robert Musiime, HIV/AIDS Coordinator at MTI says the challenges are still available that need the RHU – ACCESS project needs to continue.

John Bosco Kyaligonza, Kyangwali refugee settlement Commandant says such a very crucial project must be supported by another funder to maintain and increase SRHR services in the settlement.

Dr. Ibembe, however, says RHU is here to stay and welcome other funders to come on board after the ACCESS project closed its operations.

RHU – ACCESS project stakeholders from Kyangwali refugee settlement in Kikuube district

RHU – ACCESS project Abruptly winds up in Kikuube district

Refugees, host communities and leaders in Kikuube district have reacted diversely over the abrupt closure of the Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU), ACCESS project.

According to a cross section of vulnerable beneficiaries from the ACCESS project in Kikuube district getting free enhanced family planning services will be difficult, if no other intervention is made by RHU and its partners.

According to Dr. Peter Ibembe, RHU Director of Programs, the ACCESS project which initially was meant to run for three years, was suddenly shortened to nine months by the government of United Kingdom (UKaid).

Dr. Ibembe, says the sudden closure of the ACCESS project has affected the workplans and the effective delivery of enhanced and integrated SRHR and family planning services by RHU to the underserved and vulnerable people in Kikuube district.

18 – year – old Elizabeth Divine, a refugee from Burundi residing in Rwenyawawa village block nine (9), recently paid a visit to Rwenyawawa Health Centre III for antenatal services, with a hope of also benefiting from free family planning counseling.

Divine, hoped to see a number of sexual reproductive health and rights (SRHR) experts at the health Centre III in vain. She was told the RHU – ACCESS project was no more.

“I heard about family planning and hoped that after giving birth, I would enroll on to family planning in order, not to get other unplanned for children in future, space them and do work at home. I was shocked to find the ACCESS project no longer exists and fear I will foot the unaffordable cost of enrolling onto family planning” Divine says.

At the time of the interview, she was sited next to Janet Sifa, 25 years who already benefitted from family planning counselling services courtesy of the RHU – ACCESS project.

Sifa, who resides in Musisa village block 62, had come along with her child for treatment that day. Sifa, already acquired free long-term family planning services after giving birth to her third child.

“I have benefited from the RHU – ACCESS project services of jadelle family planning. I am not getting pregnant and doing productive work and caring for my children and family” Sifa says.

Several women and their husbands still flock health Centre’s in Kyangwali refugee camp to receive free integrated and enhanced SRHR services, most of which are no longer offered. 29 – year – Jemina Katusabe, a refugee from Democratic Republic of Congo believes that with six children now, she needs to use family planning, but at Maratatu health Centre II, the services were not available at the time of her visit.

“I heard about the free family planning services offered here by RHU, but to my surprise, when I arrived at the health Centre, I was told the services are not available” Katusabe says.

The Office of the Prime Minister of Uganda (OPM), local leaders and health service providers from Kasonga and Maratatu health Centre II, Rwenyawawa health Centre III and Kyangwali health Centre IV are equally puzzled by the sudden closure of the RHU – ACCESS UKaid funded project.

Hanifa Nyangoma, OPM’s Community Services Officer in Kyangwali refugee camp says the UKaid funded RHU – ACCESS project closure will affect the vulnerable communities who are willing to give birth every year, yet they don’t want to enroll on to family planning.

Nyangoma says that through RHU’s ACCESS project, outreaches used to be conducted, communities were sensitized about the challenges of giving birth to unplanned for children. The men and women finally accepted and enrolled on to using family planning.

“it is costly to carry out these outreaches aimed at sensitizing the refugees about reproductive health, HIV, cervical cancer screening, purchase family planning commodities for these people and this will be missed after the closure of the RHU – ACCESS project in Kyangwali refugee camp” Nayangoma says.

But Glorious Nyamukiza, Kikuube Assistant District Health Officer in charge of Maternal and Child health says the sudden end to the RHU – ACCESS program will affect the capacity building program, where health services providers are equipped with skills to conduct sterilization, insertion and removal of implants and intra uterine devices at a no cost.

“if the ACCESS project was conducted for the three years or more, we would have more health care providers trained to carry out long term family planning methods and surgeries at a free cost” Nyamukiza says.

Kyangwali refugee camp has close to 130,000 refugees, most of which are women with at least four children each on average.