Tagged as: SafeHands App

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