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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
CONSULTANCY NEEDED FOR EVALUATION OF AFP PROJECT IN UGANDA
Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU) and Partners in Population and Development (PPDAro) are looking for a consultant to conduct a summative evaluation for the Advance Family Planning project (AFP)
Overview of the Advance Family Planning Initiative in Uganda
Advance Family Planning (AFP) is an advocacy initiative of the Bill and Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health and the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health implemented in ten countries. The initiative was launched in Uganda in November 2009 with the aim of improving the funding and policy environment and galvanizing political commitment needed to ensure access to a full choice of family planning services and information. This is attained through collective efforts working with likeminded partners to build consensus, mostly targeting decision makers using a unique AFP SMART Advocacy approach.
The advocacy approach hinges on seven principles: locally-driven, focused, evidence-based, collaborative, influence, accountability and sustainability.
AFP works in collaboration with governments, donors, implementing partners, religious, media, and cultural institutions, as well as other state and non-state actors, to ensure that the country’s FP2030 commitments are met, as well as to track progress and understand advocacy priorities.
In Uganda, the AFP initiative is implemented by Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU) and Partners in Population and Development, Africa Region Office (PPDARO), working at both national and at Sub National level- over the years, engaging subnational decision
makers of 32 districts
Objectives of the Assignment
December 2022, marks the end of AFP implementation. Therefore, the main objective of the consultancy is to evaluate the performance, effectiveness, efficiency and impact of the AFP initiative in Uganda over the years.
Deliverables/Expected Outputs and time lines
The consultant team is expected to produce the following;
TOR for documenting AFP work (Down load PDF here)
Application process
Interested persons should submit technical and financial proposals to the Executive Director, Reproductive Health Uganda – rhu@rhu.or.ug and copy dkansiime@rhu.or.ug , ekiggundu@rhu.or.ug , aro@ppdsec.org by Friday, 10th, June 2022 before 5:00pm
Qualifying candidates will be contacted by Friday 17th June, 2022.
Lango Cultural Leader Signs 29 Resolutions to Achieve Demographic Dividends
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