Health programme
Our health programme aims to increase rural women’s and girl’s access to SRHR, GBV and mental health services and uptake of voluntary contraception, through quality delivery of health services in the Busoga region. We do this through the following projects:
My Body My Rights
The My Body My Rights project is an integrated community-based outreach project on family planning (FP) run by Village Health Teams (VHTs) alongside a mobile app service using a (USSD) which gives rural women in Uganda access to information about family planning methods from their mobile phone. In these communities women often lack the ability to make informed decisions about their bodies with 63% having had a baby by age 20. 1 in 4 girls in Uganda (15-19 years) are either pregnant or have already had their first child (Plan international). This integrated innovation empowers women and girls with knowledge of the use and the benefits of family planning giving them control over their bodies.
Between 2019-2020, the award-winning trained 60 village health team workers who acted as local changemakers and delivered radio talk shows disseminating information on contraceptives and family planning. The project has educated 1,755 women and girls on family planning and contraceptive use. The results from the project evaluation indicate an increase in awareness, knowledge and uptake pertaining to family planning of women and girls participating in the project activities.
Key results indicate a:
● 43% increase in women and girls knowing where to access contraceptives within their community
● 64% point increase in women and girls refuting that contraceptives cause infertility
● 26% point increase in uptake of family planning services in local health centres
● 49% point increase in women and girl’s confidence in discussing family planning and contraception with their partners
The Justice Project
The Justice project is a Community-led Gender-Based Violence Campaign, leveraging community radio to raise awareness and challenge harmful cultural practices, alongside training 10 Village health workers (VHTs) and engaging local police and health centre staff in the effective response to Gender-Based Violence at the community level.
Despite the Domestic Violence Act in Uganda at least 56% of women living in rural communities have been a victim of violence in their lifetime. This problem has been exacerbated by COVID19 which has seen a sharp rise in incidents. Our project seeks to break the silence around domestic violence, amplify the voices of women who have experienced violence and train village health workers in the effective response to domestic violence by providing advocacy for survivors at health centres and when reporting to the police.
Talking about her experience Amina told us
“I reported to the police and they told me not to waste their time, they said that these things happen in relationships and I should be glad that my husband is supporting me financially. They did not help"
Our project supports vulnerable women and girls like Amina who struggle to access justice in their communities.