Acknowledging the importance of engaging youth in shaping their future and achieving the country’s development, Public Health Ambassadors Uganda (PHAU) held the 2nd Public Health Youth Symposium at Hotel Africana on Thursday.
Organized under the theme “Working Towards Sustainable Development: Harnessing the Demographic Dividend Through Investing in Uganda’s Youth,” the symposium brought together public health professionals, researchers, advocates and young people.
Patrick Ssegawa, the team leader PHAU said the symposium serves as a platform for the participants to discuss the latest evidence on and effective solutions for the most pressing issues affecting adolescents and youth in Uganda.
“This symposium comes at a critical time when the youth are faced with challenges on a daily basis. Some of the highest rates of unemployment affect the youth. So, this symposium aims at highlighting solutions and sustainable ways to address issues affecting the youth,” Ssegawa said.
Speaking to participants, Hope Nzeire, the Senior National Program Officer National Population Council said that future population age structures will be determined by today’s actions, investments, laws and policies particularly when these actions respect, protect and fulfil young people’s and adolescents’ sexual and reproductive health rights and ensure their access to comprehensive sexuality education, youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services.
“If Government invests a lot in programs and policies that reduce teenage pregnancies, delay and space births, prevent the transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections among young people and also remove barriers to family planning and reproductive health information, this will bring down the fertility rate and reduce the number of dependents and thus enable our country to reap the benefits of the demographic dividend,” Nzeire said.
Douglas Nsibambi, an Independent Researcher with FHI 360 said that youth participation allows young people to shape sexual and reproductive health services to better answer to their demands.
“Keeping girls in school longer is an effective intervention to prevent teenage pregnancy. In the same way, creating conditions within the education system to ensure pregnant teenagers or adolescent mothers can continue their education, would be another intervention with a positive impact,” Nsibambi said.
Nsibambi’s words were reechoed by Joan Kyokutamba, the CEO Shungura Foundation who urged government to involve young people in designing and implementing policies, programs and services that are directed at them.
“Youth involvement helps ensure that policy actions are relevant and also helps develop youth as partners and leaders in development. It is important that youth are viewed as assets and active agents of change, who can contribute their thoughts to the country’s development,” Kyokutamba said.
Madina Kaddu, a family planning advocate said government should sensitize the rural communities in regard to the negative attitude towards family planning.
“My experience at the grassroot is that there are negative attitudes among people. In my community, people say ‘the English man brought Family Planning to kill and finish us. So, both men and women are not eager to get the right information. Civil Society and all actors need to bring more grassroot women and men on board to champion social change,” Kaddu said.
Among those in attendance were officials from Uganda Health Marketing Group (UHMG), Profam Uganda, Jhpiego, Makerere school of public health, PSI Uganda and PITCH (Partnership To Inspire, Transform and Connect HIV Response) Project.
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