GEDA Uganda conducts capacity building of VHTs and Health professionals on MIYCAN in Maliba S/C Kasese

Kasese is one of the Districts in Uganda with the highest burden of stunting amongst children under five years. The district is also ranked 3rd in Uganda and first in the Rwenzori Region with the highest prevalence of child marriages and teenage pregnancies (GoU,2022) (UNFPA, 2021) a situation that was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

A study conducted by GEDA Uganda in 2023 in Kasese District revealed that 56.4% of children born to teenage mothers were stunted with Maliba sub-county having the worst-case scenario. The study further highlighted that majority of the teenage mothers had limited or no sources of income and livelihood thus increasing their vulnerability to food insecurity and consequently food poverty.

A knowledge gap on Maternal infant and young child and adolescent health and nutrition was also indicated as a major risk factor to the high prevalence of stunting among the children born to the teenage mothers. In regards to the above, GEDA Uganda through a project “Better Nutrition for Children” in Maliba sub county supported by Foundation for Community Development (FCDE) and Fr.Roose Fonds organized a training to train members of the Village Health Teams (VHTs) and Health professionals working in the health centers in Maliba Subcounty in trying to address the knowledge gap.

The two categories of VHTs and health professionals were targeted for the training so that they have increased knowledge and skills on MIYCAN in order to support in cascading the same information to the teenage mothers and other older mothers through health and nutrition education whenever they come to the health centers to seek for health services such as Antenatal care (ANC), Young Child Clinics (YCC), Postnatal care (PNC) among others. Similarly, for the VHTs to be in position to support the mothers with the same information at community level during home visits and community meetings respectively.

The two days training that took place on 14th and 13th October 2024  at Maliba Town council hall attracted health professionals from Isule HC, Nyangorongo HC and Mukati Health center III, VHTs from Isule and Nyangorongo Parishes where the project is being implemented participated in the capacity building training too.

Speaking at the training GEDA’s Deputy Managing Director, emphasized the integrated approach of the project implementation and requested the participants to take keen interest in acquiring the knowledge during this training as this knowledge will be used by them in helping project beneficiaries the teenage mothers as well as the entire community. He said the objective of the training was to build their capacity in  MIYCAN, introduce the better nutrition for children under five project to them and seeking their support in the execution of the project and beyond.

GEDA’s Deputy MD addressing the health professionals.

He said GEDA was committed to continue supporting the communities but also fighting the teenage motherhood vice as this had continuously put the life of teenagers and their children at a bigger risk based on the research findings from the GEDA research.

He said 100 beneficiaries, teenage mothers and their children have been profiled and the roll out of other activities would commence shortly after the VHT/Health professionals training.

Flavia Kabugho the lead trainer took the participants through several sessions including but not limited to Introduction to nutrition, Integrating Nutrition Assessment, Counselling, and Support into Health Service Delivery, Intergenerational Cycle of Malnutrition among others.  The two days training was interactive and included a number of practical sessions on determining the nutrition status of an individual.

Flavia training the health workers

Several participants appreciated the training saying this was key for them and that they meet several scenarios in their communities and health facilities that needed the knowledge given to them.

Babirye Susan a senior clinical officer at Isule HCIII said “I appreciate the training because i was meeting same scenarios and experiences as shared with us today, this knowledge will help us serve our clients better”.

Practical session on determining the nutrition status of an individual.

GEDA Uganda will roll out in the coming days with meeting and training the teenage mothers that were profiled prior to this training.

GEDA Uganda launches a new project for Nutrition of under 5s in Kasese.

Kasese is one of the Districts in Uganda with the highest burden of stunting amongst children under five years and is ranked 3rd in Uganda and first in the Rwenzori sub Region with the highest prevalence of child marriages and teenage pregnancies (GoU, 2022) (UNFPA, 2021) a situation that was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This presents a double burden.

 

Participants listen in during the Inception meeting presentation

In 2023, GEDA- Uganda conducted a scientific study on the factors associated with stunting for children aged 6-59 months born to teenage mothers in Kasese District. The study revealed that 56.4% of children born to teenage mothers were stunted. This is  far above the national and Rwenzori Regional Average stunting rates of 29% and 40.6 %( UDHS, 2016) respectively.

In trying to address these challenges, GEDA-Uganda proposed a nutrition intervention aimed at improving the nutrition status of children under five years born to teenage mothers in Kasese considering Maliba sub-county one of the scientific research target sub counties that came out to be leading with high prevalence of  teenage mothers as a pilot sub county.

Senior Nutritionist presenting issues of malnutrition and stuntedness at the inception.

Addressing different stakeholders at the sub county headquarters in Kabuyiri Maliba sub county during the project inception on Thursday 5th September 2024, GEDA’s senior nutritionist said that the stunting burden was high and thus there was need for different stakeholders to take action.

He further took participants through stunting and it’s effects for them to understand it better, it’s statistics around the globe for them (participants) to appreciate the magnitude of the problem at hand.

He later highlighted that the project being launched was going to be a pilot and has been set as a Parish Nutrition Modal (PNM) that would consider teenage mothers under the age of 18 lactating or pregnant. The project will also work closely with all stakeholders including the VHTs, Health centers staff, sub county leadership among others. Two parishes of Nyangorongo and Isule were given first priority.

Maliba Sub county Chairperson LC3 giving closing remarks

Speaking at the same meeting GEDA’s Managing Director Ms.Bihunirwa Medius  called upon parents to fight stuntedness and Malnutrition by feeding on balanced diet and further said there is a lot of work that ought to be done by Kasese District stakeholders based on the results that were shared.

The sub county Community Development officer reported increased teenage mothers in the parishes of Isule, Mubuku and Nyangorongo among others.

Closing the inception meeting, Mr. Robert Kiryamuthaka, the area local council three chairperson, concurred with the CDO but urged parents and guardians to invest in education of their children to avoid such scenarios of teenage pregnancies, stuntedness and malnutrition.

GEDA Uganda joins Kasese District in commemoration of Day of the African Child-DAC

The Day of the African Child serves as a platform to amplify children’s voices and condemn the violent acts committed against them.

Kasese RDC, Vice Chairperson LC5 and other officials celebrating with the Students during the commemoration.

Every year on June 16th, the world comes together to discuss the challenges and opportunities in fully realizing the rights of African children. This day traces its origins back to 1976 when students in Soweto, South Africa were assassinated for protesting against educational injustice and inequality. It serves as a powerful reminder to our communities to prioritize children’s needs, ensuring they grow and reach their full potential.

GEDA’s Deputy MD receiving a certificate of appreciation from the RDC Kasese during the commemoration.

This year’s theme was “Education for all children in Africa: the time is now“. Kasese District commemorated this day on the 31st July 2024 at the Kasese mult-purpose hall calling upon all stakeholders to listen to the young child, provide education and all necessary scholastic materials.

Several achools participated in this event speaking about the challenges they face and calling upon all stakeholders to come to their rescue if they must survivie and complete their education.

GEDA Uganda was among the several stakeholders and CSOs that supported and participated in this year’s event.

GEDA Uganda joins Kasese District and other partners in commemorating the international menstrual hygiene day

Menstrual Hygiene Day (MHD, MH Day in short) is an annual awareness day on May 28 to highlight the importance of good menstrual hygiene management (MHM) at a global level.

In developing countries, women’s choices of menstrual hygiene materials are often limited by the costs, availability and social norms.

Adequate sanitation facilities and access to feminine hygiene products are important but opening discussion making adequate education for women and girls is of equal importance. Research has found that not having access to menstrual hygiene management products can keep girls home from school during their period each month.

Therefore Menstrual Hygiene Day is an occasion for publicizing information in the media, including social media, organized gatherings and to engage decision-makers in policy dialogue. The day aims to advocate for the integration of menstrual hygiene management into global, national and local policies and programs.

More specifically MH day;

  • breaks the silence, raises awareness and changes negative social norms around MHH, and
  • engages decision-makers to increase the political priority and catalyse action for MHH, at global, national and local levels.

MH Day has grown tremendously since it was first celebrated in 2014

In emulating the same objective Kasese District and her development partners commemorated the day on 21st July 2023 at Ngaiga Primary School, in Maliba Town council-Kasese District under the global theme “Making menstruation a normal fact of life by 2030”.

A highly attended event that commenced with a band around the Town council had several primary and secondary schools’ students and teachers including parents and several stakeholders.

Kick off of the event with an awareness band.

Performance after performance, presentation after the other clearly communicated the awareness about menstrual hygiene and the reason why it is necessary to create awareness if girls must stay in school.

Speaking at the function the team leader at Save the Children Kasese field office highlighted that Girls lose 10% of their time during menstruation time as revealed by a research conducted by SNV, he challenged partners to do more research and prioritize MH in their programming.

The chief guest of the function the Kasese District Woman MP, Hon.Kabugho Florence appreciated the District and Partners for having organized the function and asked that this should be a continuous engagement since it’s a normal thing that Government and partners should continue addressing.

She emphasized the hands on skills trainings for the make of reusable sanitary pads at schools so as to help them, Providing Wash rooms at schools specifically for this purpose since this was one of the biggest issues reported from schools reports. Hon. Florence also promised that as Women Parliamentarians, they are trying to find ways of providing sanitary pads freely to girls. She wondered why condoms were provided freely even when sex is a choice unlike menstruation.

Hon. Woman MP and Chief guest addressing citizens.

She also warned some men who are raping their very own children to stop that very dangerous that was being reported in some areas. The Hon. Chief guest encouraged students to continue studying irrespective of their schools and also Requested the District Education office to consider having more female teachers in schools that have less on non  to help girls during their period days.

The Hon. MP led the District and partners in signing a charter that read as follows;

 

Honourable Member of Parliament Kabugho Florence signing the charter. Several other partners and the District leadership signed this charter and committed to follow the contents therein to the dot.

Gender-Environment and Development Action committed too to the charter as this is also very key in our programming as an institution.

Partners also contributed items including sanitary pads and nickers that were distributed to the schools in attendance. The items were handed over to the District Education department by the Hon. Chief guest.

 

Commemorating Menstrual Hygiene Day

Today, millions of women and girls around the world are stigmatised, excluded and discriminated against simply because they menstruate.

It’s not acceptable that because of a natural bodily function women and girls continue to be prevented from getting an education, earning an income and fully and equally participating in everyday life.

Poor menstrual hygiene caused by a lack of education, persisting taboos and stigma, limited access to hygienic menstrual products and poor sanitation infrastructure undermines the educational opportunities, health and overall social status of women and girls around the world. As a result, millions of women and girls are prevented from reaching their full potential.

Menstrual Hygiene Day (MH Day) is a global advocacy platform that brings together non-profits, government agencies, individuals, the private sector and the media to promote good menstrual health and hygiene (MHH). More specifically, MH Day:

  • Breaks the silence, raises awareness and changes negative social norms around MHH, and
  • engages decision-makers to increase the political priority and catalyse action for MHH, at global, national and local levels.

Like other partners, Gender-Environment and Development Action would like to wish everyone a happy #MHDay. We are committed to ending the stigma around this by;

 

  • Breaking the taboos and end the stigma surrounding menstruation.
  • Raising awareness about the challenges regarding access to menstrual products, education about menstruation and period-friendly sanitation facilities.

 

Commemoration of the 16 days of Activism 2022-GEDA Uganda

The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence is an international campaign observed every year to raise visibility around the call for the elimination of all forms of gender-based violence. The prevalence of violence against women and girls in all its forms in most countries is endemic. Two out of three women  experience some form of violence in their lifetime. It is also true that Over 62% of young women have had their first sexual encounter by the age of 18 either forcefully or other unhealthy ways. These challenges have also led to high population growth driven by high rates of unwanted births, currently at 52% with teenage pregnancies accounting for 25% of over one million pregnancies recorded annually (UNFPA Report 2021).

In committing to the cause of ending violence against women and girls in Uganda, GEDA Uganda supports its members in developing and implementing measures across the region to promote the elimination of violence against women and girls.

GEDA Uganda is also committed to ending gender-based violence by creating a workplace that is respectful of the rights of all, with zero-tolerance of violence against women, girls and children.

We’re commemorating this years #16daysofactivitism by creating awareness on ending Gender-Based Violence and Violence against Children, Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) amongst the Youth, the teenage mothers and other categories of the community. We have also continued to offer practical skills to these teenage mothers and other youth as we pass messages as mentioned above.

It is our responsibility to ender violence against women and girls, boys and men for dignified and resilient lives for all.

GEDA Uganda joins the world to commemorate the International Youth Day (IYD)

21 billion. That’s how many young people between 15 – 24 inhabit the earth – 15.5 per cent of the global population, according to estimates in the 2020 United Nations World Youth Report.

To better the world they stand to inherit, this socially conscious group has unleashed their collective will and might, raising their voices to demand that CSOs and governments address such issues from gender, racial and socioeconomic inequality to climate change. Without waiting for an invitation or permission, youth activists rally their peers, start and fuel movements, shift loyalties to entities that align with their values, call out political leaders and defy the status quo to help shape a world they want to live in – one in which all can thrive.

Since being endorsed by the General Assembly in 1999, 12 August has marked the International Youth Day to acknowledge and amplify the importance of youth participation in current affairs.

This year’s theme is “Intergenerational Solidarity: Creating a World for All Ages” to combat ageism and build bridges between generations. From the wisdom of youth to the energy and idealism of the elderly, we must welcome and leverage the gifts people of all ages bring and ensure no one is left behind. The world’s problems are too vast for entire generations to be absent from helping address them.

As Gender-Environment and Development Action, we work closely with the youth and more especially the teenage mothers.

A cross section of teenage mothers celebrating after completion of their training.

During the Covid-19 pandemic when schools were closed during the lockdown, the burden of pregnancies ravaged the whole world and Kasese where we operate was not spared. As an institution we brought hope back to a number of them through skilling, counselling and referrals among others. The issues of menstrual hygiene have not been left behind by GEDA-Uganda. It is your responsibility, it’s my responsibility to encourage the youth to demand for their rights.

Happy IYD.

GEDA Uganda joins other partners to offer humanitarian work at Bwera holding center-Kasese

Asylum seekers from the Eastern DRC-North-kivu crossed into Uganda through kitholhu, Karambi and Mpondwe sub-counties in Kasese District on Sunday 3rd-Apr-2022. About 3,220 individuals/asylum seekers crossed to Uganda through various porous borders and temporarily resettled in Villages of Kisolholho, Busigha, Kasinga, Kisebere, Kiraro etc. in Kasese district. Major reason of flight was attributed to brutal attacks allegedly by ADF rebels on civilians in DRC.

Shortly after that OPM and UNHCR quickly swang in action and established a holding center at Bwera Primary Teachers college-PTC to offer emergency response services to these POCs. Several partners including GEDA Uganda also followed suit to offer services at the holding center. The other partners included but not limited to UNHCR, UNWFP, OPM, CAFOMI, MTI, ALIGHT, URCS, ICRC, AIRD, Kasese Scouts, DLG, UPF and NRC. Greater efforts have been made and coordination directed towards ensuring safety and wellbeing of everybody at the center.

 

GEDA Uganda staff sorting reusable sanitary pads for Distribution

GEDA Uganda’s core assignment,

Menstrual hygiene management, GEDA Uganda has been charged with supply of reusable sanitary pads, sensitisation of the POCs on how best they can use the pads, several FGDs have also been conducted to get feedback on how the reusable sanitary pads are working.

Pyschosocial support and GBV awareness, GEDA Uganda in partnership with ALIGHT and CAFOMI have been charged with these services that have been offered deligently.

GEDA Uganda has continued to support the Persons Of Concern (POCs) with these necessary services to make their life comfortable at the holding center.

 

Buffalo teenage mothers receive a grant to kick start their business ambitions

Through our continued commitment to supporting the teenage mothers and other vulnerable youth in Kasese District, GEDA Uganda has partnered with Children Conservationists program –CCP an organization aimed at facilitating sustainable conservation through empowerment, leadership development and educational support for the children and Youth to continue reaching out to the vulnerable Youth within the region.

Virtual meeting with CCP to harmonize on M.O.U prior to the grant

This comes shortly after GEDA Uganda had trained these teenage mothers in different life skills of craft shoe making, tailoring and knitting to give them a second chance of life. GEDA Uganda had earlier on given these teenage mothers start up kits for them to kick start small businesses in the different fields in which they had gained skills. This however wasn’t enough and it was the reason GEDA continued searching for more opportunities to support the teenage mothers.

After an MOU with CCP, buffalo teenage mothers group will be receiving USD 556 from CCP through GEDA Uganda to buy start up materials for their business in tailoring and craft shoe making. This will be a big boost to the earlier on given start up kits and tailoring machines donated to them by GEDA Uganda.

A Cross section of the buffalo teenage mothers in a meeting preparing for the grant.

GEDA Uganda is also supporting other teenage mothers groups in Kasese Municipality to realize their potential amidst having given birth at a tender age. These groups will be trained in Youth savings and loan schemes –YSLAs for them to start small savings from the proceeds of their business for sustainable livelihoods.

Gender-Environment and Development Action: Statement on the 16 days of activism

The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence is an international campaign to challenge violence against women and girls. The campaign runs every year from 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to 10 December. This day was initiated in 1991 by the first Women’s Global Leadership Institute, held by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL) at Rutgers University.

There has been a lot of violence against women and girls (VAWG) in the whole world and there has been lots of statistics about this and so the 16 days of activism were adopted to create awareness about these challenges of VAWG, engage leaders and different stakeholders in the fight against VAWG among others.

According to the latest estimates, nearly 1 in 3 women aged 15 years and older, around the world have been subjected to physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner, non-partner or both, at least once in their lifetime, indicating that levels of VAWG have remained largely unchanged over the last decade (UN Women). These numbers do not reflect the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and would be even higher if they included the full continuum of violence that affect women and girls including sexual harassment, violence in digital contexts, harmful practices and sexual exploitation. COVID-19 has exacerbated all the risk factors for VAWG, including unemployment and poverty, and reinforced many of the root causes such as gender stereotypes and harmful social norms. It has been estimated that 11 million girls may not return to school because of COVID-19, thereby increasing their risk of child marriage.

According to a survey by UBOS and UN Women (2020) in Uganda https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/uganda_rga_full_report.pdf , it found out that gender-based violence victims are largely being violated by people they live with/other household members, This includes spouses (33%), father (9%), mother (4%), other relatives (4%), sibling (2%), and daughter/son (1%). Therefore, awareness about the law, guidance and engagement with different actors is very key especially during these 16 days of Activism.

Gender-Environment and Development Action Uganda stands with the rest of the Partners, CSOs to commemorate and participate in making awareness through media about VAWG. GEDA Uganda currently works with teenage mothers in Kasese District to skill them in Knitting, tailoring and craft shoe making as a way of giving them hope.

Teenage mothers practical training session in craft shoe making

GEDA Uganda envisions “A world where gender equity and environmental sustainability prevail, in which women and girls have the power to harness their full potential”. We are committed to contributing towards SDG 5 and we would like to encourage each and every one to do their role to end Violence against Women and girls. Together we can orange the world and end VAWG.

Teenage mothers tailoring classes
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