An interview with Jostas Mwebembezi, Executive Director and Founder of The Rwenzori Center for Research and Advocacy in Uganda, which serves women, children, and adolescents in the poorest communities to help them access improved livelihoods, including better health care and education.
Katosi Women Development Trust (KWDT) is a registered Ugandan non-governmental organization that is driven by its mission to enable women and girls in rural fishing communities to effectively engage in socioeconomic and political development for sustainable livelihoods. KWDT Coordinator Margaret Nakato shares how the implementation of a fishing project under the organization’s economic empowerment thematic area is promoting gender equality and women’s meaningful participation in socioeconomic activities, especially in Uganda’s fishing space.
Wii Tuke Gender Initiative is a women- and youth-led organization in Northern Uganda’s Lira District (in the Lango sub-region) that uses technology and culture to empower women and girls from structurally silenced communities.
This week, we're featuring The Uganda Youth Alliance for Family Planning and Adolescent Health (UYAFPAH) in our FP/RH Champion Spotlight series. UYAFPAH’s primary mission is advocating for positive change in health matters that affect young people in Uganda.
Marie Stopes Uganda’s Gulu Light Outreach provides free mobile clinics that engage Northern Ugandan communities on reproductive health. Using peer-to-peer influence and outreach in markets and community centers, the team educates young people on contraceptives. It aims to spur family planning and support a culture that prioritizes the futures of its youth and the sustainability of its environment.
In July 2021, USAID’s Research for Scalable Solutions (R4S) project, led by FHI 360, released the Drug Shop Operators' Provision of Injectable Contraception manual. The handbook shows how drug shop operators can coordinate with the public health system to safely provide an expanded method mix that includes injectables, as well as training for clients on self-injection. The handbook was developed in Uganda in partnership with the National Drug Shop Task Team but can be adapted to various contexts in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Knowledge SUCCESS’ contibuting writer Brian Mutebi talked to Fredrick Mubiru, Family Planning Technical Advisor at FHI 360 and one of the key resource persons involved in the development of the handbook, about its significance and why people should use it.
The COVID-19 pandemic has disordered the livelihoods of adolescents and young people across Uganda’s communities in many ways. With the first COVID-19 wave in March 2020 came the adoption of containment measures, such as the closure of schools, movement restrictions, and self-isolation. As a result, the health and well-being of young people, especially adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health (AYSRH) in Uganda, took a hit.
FHI 360’s Catherine Packer shares a personal perspective on DMPA-SC’s past ten years, from early research to recent workshops. Since its introduction—and particularly since it became available for self-injection—DMPA-SC has become an important part of the global family planning and reproductive health landscape.