Tagged as: Reproductive Health Uganda

RHU signs Memorandum of Understanding with Lango Cultural Foundation

On October 18, 2022, cabinet leaders from the Lango Cultural Foundation (LCF) in northern Uganda signed a five-year memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU).

According to Robert James Ajal, LCF Prime Minister who led the cabinet delegation, integrating sexual reproductive health (SRH) into the LCF plan for 2022 to 2026 is critical in order to manage the LCF population and harness development in homes and as a foundation.

“Lango Cultural Foundation will educate and sensitize communities about sexual reproductive health and family planning, as well as strengthen the enforcement of existing laws against gender-based violence, defilement, child neglect, marriages, and land conflicts. Encourage and support the education of girls,” Ajal said.

The signing of the MoU was witnessed by the Lira district local government and the office of the Presidency, which vowed to protect the partnership and thus reached and birthed between RHU and LCF.

Dennis Otim Otto, Principal Assistant Secretary from the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer, pledged to support the partnership which aims to achieve demographic dividends for Lira district local government and also the Lango sub-region of Northern Uganda.

“We will support the partnership between Reproductive Health Uganda and Lango Cultural Foundation because it aligns with the Government of Uganda’s development goals like the NDP III, vision 2040, and the Parish Development Model pillar number four (4),” Otim said.

In his remarks, Jackson Chekweko, RHU Executive Director, said that as we climax with what we started in 2020 with the Lango Cultural Foundation (LCF), a resolution to promote family planning was jointly signed. LCF is now ready to cruise on its own.

“We are now putting in place a framework that will help our relationship progress. Our partnership with the Lango Cultural Foundation is based on work that improves the lives and social welfare of Lango residents and the foundation,” Chekweko said.

RHU and LCF signed a group resolution before, to promote family planning in September 2020, with support from Advance Family Planning (AFP).

The resolution, which focuses on educating communities about family planning and incorporating family planning into the LCF’s budget and development plan, has had an impact on all eight districts in the Lango region.

Cultural leaders in the Lango Kingdom are stewards of local traditions and powerful influencers of community values and health-seeking behaviors.

Dr. Buchan Patrick Ocen Lira, district health officer, disclosed that the signing of the MoU will help achieve Family Planning commitments 2030 by reducing the unmet need for family planning in the Lango region, now at 27.4% among married women and girls [1]. Cultural preferences for large families and substantial dowries for young brides have traditionally hampered family planning. This all contributes to a teen pregnancy rate of 35.2% in the region, which is higher than the national average [2].

While closing the signing ceremony, Lawrence Egole, Resident City Commissioner for Lira City, stated that Lira and the Lango subregion have many street people because parents were not guided about how to many children’s birth and care in the community.

He encourages other cultural, religious, and educational institutions in Uganda to join efforts to capitalize on demographic dividends.

Advance Family Planning (AFP) local partner Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU) 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, His Highness the Won Nyaci me Lango Yossam Odur Ebii, as key to their advocacy efforts.

The writer of this article Aldon Walukamba is the RHU Media Advocacy and Documentation Coordinator

References

Uganda Bureau of Statistics (2016). Uganda Demographic and Health Survey 2016. Retrieved from https://dhsprogram.com/publications/publication-FR333-DHS-Final-Reports.cfm

Uganda Ministry of Health. Uganda District Health Information System (DHIS) 2. Accessed October 2022.

Why Contraceptives?

Every 26th of September is World contraception day. The theme this year is ”The power of options ”. There’s 7 billion of us on this planet and the population just keeps growing. Babies are awesome. They have cute beady eyes, infectious smiles, that baby talk we love but don’t understand, the adorable outfits for the gram… and when they grow up you can send them to fetch the remote. It’s all too precious. But we can’t keep popping them out like there’s free resources just lying around. As awesome as babies can be, do not get entrapped by the peer pressure from friends or family to have as many than you can feed!

How long till you pop out the next kid?

It all depends on the couple’s plan. Some babies are oops babies. Precious nonetheless. A newborn can take over your life. So try to think about whether you and your partner have the time and energy a baby requires. And ask yourselves whether your other children are ready to deal with the reality of a baby in the home. Studies suggest that getting pregnant within 18 months after your first child is born can make it more likely that your second child will be born early, underweight, or smaller than usual. So…. you might want to wait for at least 24 months.

What Can I get on?

What works for your unique body and lifestyle won’t necessarily work for someone else. There’s no “perfect” one, but there is probably one out there that’s perfect for you. And what works for you now might not work for you in 10 years. Mum and dad need to work this out together. Talk to your doctor. Based on your age, lifestyle and medical conditions, they’ll let you know what works best. Our professional doctors at all our branches country wide are happy to take you through a range of options that might work to you! Click here to reach out!

Short Term Options??

• Contraceptive injection (renewed every eight weeks or every 12 weeks, depending on the type)
• Combined pill (taken every day for three weeks out of every month)
• Progesterone-only pill (taken every day)
• Contraceptive patch (renewed each week for three weeks in every month)
• Condoms
• Rhythm method

Long term options?

• Vasectomy
• Tubal Ligation
• IUD