“Many Civil Society Organizations (CS0s) showed up with smart strategies to see that the girls [teenagers] are enrolled in the informal education settings and get hands-on skills.”
Lango – April 12, 2022: On January 10, 2022, most schools in Uganda reopened after almost 2 years of closure due to the impact of the pandemic.
Uganda’s children [learners] missed school for the longest time than any other country in the world, according to a report by the UNICEF.
According to a report produced by the UN Population Fund Research, during the 2021 lockdown, more than 32,000 teenage pregnancies were registered on average per month in Uganda. The data includes underage marriages, which are prohibited by law, as well as rape victims.
When all schools reopened, President Yoweri Museveni ordered that schools designate a special room for teen mothers. He said the government encourages adolescent mothers to pursue their education.
Face-to-face education restarted in the country on January 10, but despite the government’s reassurance, some students who became mothers during the two-year interval refused to return.
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This was because of stigma and societal perception that made the teenage mothers shy away, leaving them with no hope.
Despite this, many Civil Society Organizations (CS0s) showed up with smart strategies to see that the girls are enrolled in informal education settings and get hands-on skills.
Haggard Tommy Okada, the Managing Director of Friends of Goodwill (FOG), one of the organizations empowering adolescent girls and child mothers based in Apac district acknowledges the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Friends of Goodwill is a not-for-profit registered organization with its head office in Apac district. It is [also] working in Oyam and Kwania districts.
“When the government reopened schools, most teenage mothers went into hiding due to stigma and fear but they managed to use case management to identify the teen mothers,” he said.
Click here to listen to Okada Tommy as he talks about how they identify child mothers in the various communities across Lango sub-region.
Okada highlighted the major causes of teenage pregnancy in their intervention areas and way forward. Click here to listen.
George Owak, the Managing Director of Voice of Hope and Restoration Outreach (VOHARO) mentioned that when they realized that girls were in the community in 2020, they approached local leaders, identified 300 child mothers and adolescent girls.
According to Owak, they first offered them physiological support before enrolling them to undertake various skills.
Adolescent girls were involved for sensitization and to safeguard them as explained here by the VOHARO’s Managing Director
In January 2022, VOHARO passed out 35 teenagers who had completed a six months’ skills training in Fashion and Design.
Prisca Adong, one of the beneficiaries said at first she was so afraid to face the world to the extent that whenever she used to meet her age mates on the way, she could branch in the bushes.
“Right now I just don’t know how I feel, with the fashion and design skills I acquired, I feel I have conquered all worlds around me, even those who use to criticize me now respect me and consult me for their designs,” Adongo said.
She has had a dream for five years to come to be able to have her fashion and design academy where teenage mothers are empowered because she knows how it feels to be hopeless.
Andrew Ogwang Oyang, the Education Officer (in charge of administration) of Lira City advised that parents should be informed time and again to accept the reality.
He wants the girls enrolled for skill training to be tested by the directorate of industrial training.
Ogwang Oyang has more. Watch here youtube
Sarah Ajok, a senior woman teacher at Angelika Secondary School, Bar sub-county in Lira district, said negative gender norms, lack of awareness, poor parenting coupled with greed for dowry is partly to blame for the increasing teenage pregnancies.
Ajok acknowledged that as a senior woman teacher, they are trying so hard to engage the adolescents to mitigate this practice and to encourage the girls to stay at school through creating awareness on sexual and reproductive health.
A report by the Communication for Development Foundation Uganda (CDFU), an NGO, shows that 23,549 teenage girls visited health facilities in the Lango sub-region for antenatal care services in the last eight months.
The survey shows that adolescent girls were impregnated between January and August 2021. Lango sub-region comprises Alebtong, Amolatar, Apac, Dokolo, Kole, Kwania, Lira, Oyam, and Otuke districts.
This publication was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of Christine Awor and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.