Tagged as: SRHR services

In Uganda safe spaces, toll free line offers SRHR information for young people

Uganda – “We’ve been told that our clinics bear peace – the clinic and what is offered in it,” said Demeter Margaret Namuyobo. She is the Medical Coordinator at Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU), where we present a safe space for women and young people in Uganda, to access sexual reproductive health services and information (SRHI).

Over the past 65 years, millions of marginalized and underserved people have entered Uganda, including internally displaced persons (IDPs), refugees, young people, and migrants fleeing economic and political instability in Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Burundi, and Rwanda.

New Patient care Centres in all 19 static RHU clinics and a toll-free line (0800299003), assist new arrivals in gaining access to SRHI services and information, as well as addressing urgent needs such as protection, shelter, food, and counseling.

Amid the noise, crowds, and queues at community outreaches and the static clinics, there is a door marked with the words

“This is the RHU safe space” – a place where young people and survivors of gender-based violence can come for guidance, care, and referrals to local networks of public services as well as resources on sexual and reproductive health.

“The people who come here have SRHI issues that require urgent attention, in most cases privately. They don’t understand most of the dialects spoken in Uganda, they haven’t eaten properly for a while, they hitchhiked – they are anxious and distressed,”. Namuyobo explained.

New arrivals, particularly women and young people, are welcomed into the safe space at the end of often long and difficult journeys.

While comprehensive data are unavailable, research and news reports have indicated women and young people face threats of gender-based violence and a lack of SRHI as they seek out better lives in the country.

To address these rights violations, RHU maintains 19 safe spaces across the country and the toll-free line (0800299003), where staff offer SRHI and work to identify instances of gender-based violence, offer case-management support, and refer survivors to corresponding public services. Teams also work with survivors to access health services, build safety plans, and monitor cases until resolution.

“RHU’s toll-free line and humanitarian response in Uganda is important to guarantee the health rights of marginalized and underserved people, especially young people, women, and girls,” said Tom Kulumba, who heads the RHU Gender and Youth department in Uganda.

In addition to sexual and reproductive health advice and gender-based violence support, each space accommodates breastfeeding mothers, and infant beds and provides free condoms and educational videos and games. Everyone is welcome, and the door is always open.

“Hundreds of vulnerable and underserved people have benefited from calling the RHU toll-free line,” Talent Emily, RHU toll-free line officer said. She contends that the callers are interested in family planning, infertility management, HIV, location of RU clinics, making appointments, and sexually transmitted infections (STI) management.

For some, this makes all the difference. “During an appointment, one woman mentioned her desire to use family planning,” Demeter Namuyobo recalled. “She put both hands on the table and said, ‘You are the first person so far who has looked at me, so I felt safe to open up – I think this is what sets us apart.”

As Ugandans face ongoing threats to their SRHI safety in some places – from a lack of essentials such as spaces, toll free lines, and medicine to political and socioeconomic crisis – RHU will continue its critical work of providing marginalized and vulnerable persons in their diversity a safe place to rest and recover.

The author Aldon Walukamba is a Media Advocacy and Documentation Coordinator at Reproductive Health Uganda

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.

Parliamentarians from Africa and Asia Commend RHU’s work

Parliamentarians from Africa and Asia have commended Reproductive Health Uganda’s (RHU) work in promoting sexual reproductive health rights (SRHR) services and Family Planning (FP).

While visiting RHU headquarters and Katego clinic, the parliamentarians were thrilled with RHU operations and promised to advocate a replica in Uganda and their home countries.

The purpose of the visit was to furnish the parliamentarians with what RHU has been does in reaching out to communities about sexual reproductive health rights (SRHR) services and Family Planning (FP). The parliamentarians from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Cameroon, Chad, Liberia among others, applauded RHU and its management in executing out workable strategies in promoting SRHR and FP.

Jackson Chekweko, RHU Executive Director in his remarks welcomed the parliamentarians to Uganda and RHU. He communicated to the visitors that RHU provides services in the hardest to reach and underserved parts of Uganda.

“We offer SRHR services in 29 districts of Uganda through 768 service points, 17 static clinics, 74 mobile facilities, 35 associated clinics and a network of hundreds of community-based organizations” Chekweko said.

The RHU Executive Director, also informed the parliamentarians, that over 1.5 million young people, women and men in Uganda are direct beneficiaries of RHU services per annum. This is achieved through the various service delivery and points located all over the country. He also said that RHU has a long standing experience of providing integrated comprehensive SRHR services and has championed the role of sexuality education in the country.

He however reiterated that in Uganda, “SRHR is not considered as an essential service which even worsened during the COVID19 pandemic crisis” Chekweko said.

Dr. Peter Ibembe, RHU Director of Programs communicated about the ICPD25 journey to the parliamentarians. He said that the Civil Society Organizations (CSO’s) like RHU are making strides in complementing government programs.

“In 2019 RHU while working with the National Population Council (NPC) mobilized CSOs to organize the pre ICPD25 symposium. Through this symposium a position paper was developed and commitments made” Dr. Ibembe said.

Dr Ibembe, said that amidst the COVID19 pandemic, RHU has so far provided 7.2 million integrated SRHR services, which include family planning, HIC prevention, care and treatment, breast and cervical cancer screening, sexually transmitted infections management etc. to more than 1.2 million people.

The young SRHR volunteers were also represented by Daisy Kandole, and Brian Ssekajja, SRHR advocates and volunteers at RHU.

Daisy Kandole, disclosed that RHU has empowered her as a young person to know her rights to reproductive health and also become an advocate of Sexual Reproductive Health.

“ the different youth friendly services and programmes that RHU offers, to many young people like her have been empowered and can make better choices regarding their sexual reproductive health rights” Kandole said.

On the other hand Brian Ssekaja, mentioned that RHU offers him a platform to advocate for reproductive health services to young people. He says that through his voulunteering work and services at RHU, he has been able to tlk to young people in schools and so extending SRHR information to them. He adds that COVID19 has affected most of te work young people have been doing through RHU because schools have been closed and most young people are at home.

Esther Chandiru, is  a female sex worker from Bwaise, in Kampala – Uganda. She said that she was reffered to RHU clinic Bwaise by a friend of hers.

Esther, commends RHU for the many times she has visited the Bwaise clinic, she has been charged fairly and sometimes offered free outreach services, unlike at other health centers charge a lot of money.

There after Jackson Chekweko, RHU ED presented some challenges faced by RHU to the parliamentarians.

“COVID19 has hit the organization so hard. Some of the development partners that have been supporting RHU have also stopped because they also have their own financial problems caused by the COVID19 pandemic. We need to engage some of these partners like the UK government that have cut funding to some of the ongoing projects. He challenged the different MPs to play a role in advocating for health funds and grunts to developing countries like Uganda” Chekweko said.

He also disclosed that there are limited resources allocated to reproductive health. The resources are not enough to serve the growing population in the country.

In his closing remarks the leader of the delegation Hon. Constantino from Tanzania commended RHU for the work they do to extend sexual reproductive health rights especially to young people and marginalized communities.

Hon. Constantino also presented a gift to RHU through the executive director from the entire delegation.

Centre – RHU ED Jackson Chekweko with Parliamentarians from Africa and Asia at RHU Headquarters