The
adolescents are among the most vulnerable to HIV, AIDS, They are the poorest
and they are the easily misguided due to lack of experience in life skills.
Therefore they take up the highest burden of all the problems of every
situation in life of a Ugandan. Uganda
is one of the low developed countries in the world., with low per capita
incomes, and poor population whereby 31% live under poverty line.
Situation
analysis indicates that:
a. 31% of the population live under
poverty line. About 85% of the people in
Uganda
are peasants who depend on subsistence
agriculture for their livelihoods. A survey made by Most young girls who get
premarital sex and pregnancies indicate that they do so because they get simple
gifts in exchange for unprotected sex as a way of winning financial support
from the men as a means of survival.
b. Life expectancy is at 52 years, this
early death in relationship with fertility rates leads to many children being left as orphans
at an early age
c. Gender Based Violence in Uganda
is at 68% for females and 20% for males. This type of violence becomes hard to
control when it is at domestic level. The effects can be observed when the
children fail to get parental guidance and care, which results into street
children and uneducated youth at the end.
d. Fertility rates are high in Uganda
at 6.7 per women. Only 18% of the married women apply modern contraceptive
methods. This is because of lack of nearby facilities but also due to lack of
education about them. 435 out of 100,000 women die while producing. This is
because of low antenatal health care services. Records at most hospitals
indicate that 28% of the women who attend to antenatal clinics in Uganda
are below 18 years old. Such young girls, despite the fact that they are
supposed to care for their babies, they are not allowed under the international
labor laws to have gainful employment
e. According to the UNHS 2005/06 more
than 2.1 million children in Uganda
are vulnerable which represents up to 13. 1% of the young people in Uganda.
According to the records of Uganda beauroux of Statistics (UBOS) up to 3
million children in Uganda are under the category of OVCs and 109,000 children
of below 15 years Living with HIV are 2.1million vulnerable children and
2.3million orphans (national development plan 2010/11 -2014/15)
f. Primary school retention is 53% for
boys and 42% for girls while secondary education only 30% of the girls who go
to primary schools reach secondary school education at the age of 18 years old.
(quoted from UDHS 2009) The high drop
out of girls at schools leads to early marriages and unwanted
pregnancies at an early age
g. HIV prevalence used to be very high;
it has been reduced from 30% in eighties to 6-7% in 2008.
h. The laws of Uganda condemn any sexual
relationships with women who are below 18 years; it also condemn any women who
aborts a pregnancy which may arise under such circumstances.
i. The churches in Uganda do not allow the use of
contraceptives as part of their norms.
j. Uganda ranges high in corruption. Although
the in national development plan, the Uganda Government has offered to educate
OVCs, this money may end up in the pockets of some people or it may end up
educating the well to do. It also goes with a cost sharing in terms of
scholastic materials, food and uniform which poor parents cannot afford.
Major challenges in service delivery include:
- Some men and women believe they must produce as many children as their bodies can allow.Sme women and men believe in children as a center of attraction to their spouses while others take it as a source of bride. wealth me men and women have a negative attitude towards contraceptives due to some side effects which attach them, Some women dry up in their virginal walls and they lose libido while don’t. Some change their behaviour and these changes in behaviour sometimes turn out to cause domestic violence in stable families; the increased period during menstruation scares some women, the deposited increase in the length of time to conceive after withdrawing from the contraceptives scares many who end up as victims.Some women increase weight immediately after getting started with the contraceptives which may lead to hypertension.Other challenges are the insufficient counselling services that lead women to go in for witchcraft as an alternative and some of them believe in the use of herbs and magic for birth controls.Women have to go far to hospitals to access the Long Term Acting Methods which are not available due to lack of technicians.Those who understand family planning are few and most of them cannot put aside money for that purpose.The people are generally poor and the health centres cannot raise the money to serve the communities with family planning services.
Project Justification
The
major area of interest is reducing the fertility rates as a way to reducing family
burdens, increasing available time for women labor and increasing household
incomes leading to better standards of living
Many
healthy workers who have been offering family planning services in Rwenzori
Region have not had remarkable impact, the fertility rates continue to
increase, while the population increase rate is at its high level. This is
because the family planning units which are in place concentrate in health
centers which are visited by the few who are not healthy. The association would
like to use the community in
approach reduction of fertility rates. This is intended to examine and change
the attitude, practices and behavior of people. It is intended to attract the
young men involvement in the drive towards reducing fertility rates of young
women. It is also intended to approach the young women to reduce their urge for
early marriages, and early sexual interests as a way to reduce their active
reproductive period.
The
project is aimed at using community based structures to sensitize their fellow
community members to understand family planning and the available
contraceptives. We will engage the attendants in drug shops to train in the
management of contraceptives, and the use of the available family planning
methods. This approach is intended to reach all the people through their own
community structures to destroy the wrong impression of the people about
contraceptive use and family planning. The project officer will use the radio,
the community cultural and religious leaders, the school teachers, The
traditional birth attendants (TBAs) the village leaders to sensitize the people
about the application of contraceptives. The project staff will be trained in
the application of Long Acting and Permanent methods of family planning, as a
way to bring the service nearer to the people.
No comments:
Post a Comment