Solidifying partnerships and growing stronger together.
Dear partners,
We are excited for having successfully come to the end of April and started another exciting new month.
Thank you for walking with us through April and being part of our work and more so, our actions and impact. April like the previous months has been another action parked month, where we have not only shaped and influenced policy and programming for quality health and well-being for young people, but we have also sparked action to challenge negative social norms and values that discriminate against women, girls and young people in general.
In this April 2019 Newsletter, we bring you key highlight of all that we have been up to and as always, we are sure that you will enjoy reading.
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Energy and Excitement as Schools embrace BooksB4babies Campaign
Thousands of students could not hide their excitement during the Books before Babies Campaign sessions at their Schools. The campaign that seeks to put girls at the fore front of the fight to end teenage pregnancy, child marriages and promote enrollment and completion of school among girls, hit a record level of 2500 girls reached in April 2019.
Check out this exciting video as Winnie and Mary our trainers share their experience and details of what happens during the Books Before Babies Sessions.
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Youth friendly services, a nightmare for girls in Kyaka II Refugee Settlement - Kyegegwa District.
Kyaka II Refugee Settlement located in Kyegegwa District in South Western Uganda is home to more that 90,000 refugees with more than 60% of these below 16 years.
The settlement like many other refugee settlements in the country suffers from high influx of refugees which puts pressure on social services. Kyaka II particularly has only two health centres with and one secondary school.
According to a report from a study we just concluded, the recorded rate of teenage pregnancy in Kyaka II is as 21.1%. making the settlement a risky area for girls growing up. Due to lack adequate health facilities providing youth friendly services, many girls are unable to access correct information and services to avoid pregnancy. School dropout rates are also high with many young girls not being able to join secondary school after finishing primary school, due to having to to walk long distances or an inability to afford the high fees required for secondary school education. This leaves them vulnerable to risks of both teenage pregnancy and child marriage.
The findings of study also indicated that teenage pregnancies and child marriages are at the core of girls and women’s experiences as a result of discrimination based on gender, economic status, region and orphan status. Additionally, discriminatory social-cultural practices pose even greater challenges for girls who are already vulnerable due to their refugee status.
The rapid assessment study was aimed at understanding the state of teenage pregnancies and child marriage in Kyaka II Refuge settlement and gather evidence-based data to support district interventions targeting the reduction of teenage pregnancy and child marriage.
We are working towards having the report published on our website very soon.
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Adolescent Health Remains our Focus - Ministry of Health
We were honoured to participate in a high level meeting with the delegation from the European Union that was in Uganda to discuss opportunities for improving Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), with specific attention on young people. In his meeting, Ministry of Health reiterated that adolescents and young people, in general, shall remain the center of its focus if Uganda is to attain the targets lined under Sustainable Development Goals, majorly, the 3rd and 5th SDGs.
“Our focus as the Ministry of Health is on adolescents’ health; we know that they contribute greatly to maternal mortality and morbidity rates majorly due to their underdeveloped bodies but also inadequate access to correct information and quality youth friendly services” says Dr. Mugisha in a flamboyant tone.
He noted this as he responded to various concerns from organizations, mostly youth-serving, about the delays by the ministry of health to pass the National Adolescent Health Policy. The meeting was held at the Golf course Hotel in Kampala and was organized by Action for Health Uganda (A4HU) in partnerships with National planning authority (NPC). Read more
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Health Promoters, discuss Promoting Planetary Health and Sustainable Development for All
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In April 2019, the world’s re-known health promoters gathered in Rotarua, News Zealand for the 23rd World Conference in Health Promotion. The conference organized by the International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE) in partnership with the Health Promotion Forum of New Zealand (HPF) was organized under the theme; Promoting Planetary Health and Sustainable Development for All.
IUHPE is a unique worldwide, independent and professional association of individuals and organisations committed to improving the health and wellbeing of the people through education, community action and the development of healthy public policy.
Our team Leader Patrick Mwesigye attended the conference and was a plenary speaker, Read more.
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HIVOS Strategic Grantees Inception Meeting.
25th to 26th April 2019, was a thrilling moment for our Program Officer SRHR and Gender Equality –Winnie Apio, who represented us at a strategic grantees inception meeting for (HIVOS), Southern African Hub. HIVOS in partnership with SIDA and Ford Foundation manages the Regional Fund on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR). The two days
The meeting was aimed at introducing grantees to the Regional SRHR Fund and more specifically, discuss expectations, familiarize grantees with HIVOS processes, policies and procedures and provided an opportunity to establish learning partnerships. Read more
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Women's Rights are Human Rights and Human Rights are Women's Rights
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More than 500 activists and champions of gender equality including women, youth and policy makers gathered at the recently concluded, Tunis Forum on Gender Equality, to take stock of progress made on women’s rights, leading up to the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
The forum hosted by Governments of Sweden and Tunisia in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UN Women was held from the 24 to 26 April 2019 and was a follow up to the Stockholm Forum held in April 2018.
The discussions took stock of the progress made in the implementation of the visionary Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and went further to explore women’s participation in leadership and governance, the women’s peace and security agenda and linkages between innovations and technology in harnessing women’s economic empowerment. Patrick Mwesigye our Team Leader was in attendance and in this article he shares key highlight of the discussions.
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Engaging more girls in science and technology through Fundi Bots' girl initiative.
Caterina Fake, Co-Founder of Flickr an app says, “I think one of the big challenges is actually cultivating beginners’ minds …” Our goal is to empower girls and young women to live with equity, dignity and realize their full potential. The reason we sent a team of our female change champions to participate in the ICT and electronics training, which was intended to boost science and technology especially among girls. The training was organized by FUNDI BOTS under the Fundi GIRLS, an initiative that works towards encouraging more girls in science and technology. Young but inspired girls were empowered with various skill sets on how to apply technology in day to day activities.
The event attracted female change champions from major organizations including; Reproductive Health Uganda, Uganda Youth and Adolescents health forum, Makerere University, Makerere Business School and Kyambogo University with students perusing various courses. The event took place at SAYUUNI complex in Kampala, Ntinda, along Kisaasi road. Read more
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Reflecting on the progress made in 1st quarter - UYAHF Staff Retreat
Coming together is the beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is successes. Premised on the goal to uphold the spirit of ‘UYAHFISM’, reflecting on progress made visa vie our annual work plan and promoting teamwork, the UYAHF staff held a two day retreat from 17th to 18th April 2019 at Forest Cottages Naguru. The purpose of the retreat was to assess progress on the implementation of the 2019 work plan and to share the first quarter reports from the different departments. The retreat was also meant to allow the team to collectively work together to plan for the second quarter activities. Read more
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Our Debut Comic Series on Anna's Story
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Join us to welcome our debut comic, that will feature Ann’s story.
Ann a random girl, like any other girl growing up from a very poor and challenging background, abusive and unsafe neighborhood, whose parents are determined to take her to school Visa vie the struggles of raising school fees and battling traditional and cultural beliefs that society attributes to the girl child.
The comic will seek to raise awareness on the lived reality and challenges that Ann and many other Ugandan girls of her caliber go through to battle growing up with the unsupportive society that perpetrates violence and discrimination against girls which in the long run exposes girls to high risk factors like; early and unsafe sexual debuts, sexual abuse, early and unwanted pregnancy, child marriages among others.
We are dedicating the first 4 editions that will come out weekly to SheDecides #8WeeksChallenge as a build up to the Women Deliver Conference in Vancouver Canada this June 2019.
Keep an eye on our social media spaces and website www.uyahf.com for new editions that will be coming out every week. For more information contact us on; info@uyahf.com
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