Combat Child, Early & Forced Marriages in Uganda

In Uganda more than 34% of girls are married before their 18th birthday every year in Uganda, and 1 in 10 is married before turning 15. COVID 19 caused escalation of teenage pregnancies and and school dropout including child mothers and currently, teenage pregnancy in Kibuku stands at 37 per cent among girls aged 15-19 years. Kagumu Development Organization is running a project to combat child, early and forced marriages in Uganda with support from the community and partners through GlobalGiving platform. The project contributes to increased access to good quality education among girl children in Kibuku District in Uganda through advocating for girls rights to health, education, to live in security and to choose when and whom they marry. The project targets to rescue 785 girls aged 13-18 years from child, early and forced marriages and increase their access to good quality primary and secondary education.

Achievements

• 45 leaders mobilized and sensitized on 2020 new guidelines on pregnancy prevention and management in schools
• 54 parents mobilized and sensitized on 2020 new guidelines on pregnancy prevention and management in schools
• 74 adolescent girls mobilized and sensitized and provided sexual and reproductive health education
• 74 adolescent girls provided schostic materials
• 74 adolescent girls provided re-usable sanitary pads.

Challenges:

• Limited financial support to accelerate project implementation
• High cost of re-usable sanitary pads

Recommendation:

• Child marriage is a human right violation issue and required a lot of attention globally particularly in Uganda and East Africa. The increased child marriages in Uganda also undermine both the government and donors efforts put in education sector. This therefore, this is a calls for interventions of all well-wishers to support this pr

Links:

• http://www.kado.or.ug

Summary

In Uganda more than 34% of girls are married before their 18th birthday every year in Uganda, and 1 in 10 is married before turning 15. Currently, teenage pregnancy in Kibuku stands at 37 per cent among girls aged 15-19 years. This is the 1^st report on combat child, early and forced marriages in Uganda project. The project contributes to increased access to good quality education among girl children in Kibuku District in Uganda through advocating for girls rights to health, education, to live in security and to choose when and whom they marry. The project targets to rescue 785 girls aged 13-18 years from child, early and forced marriages and increase their access to good quality primary and secondary education.

Achievements

• 20 leaders mobilized and sensitized on 2020 new guidelines on pregnancy prevention and management in schools
• 180 parents with adolescent girls identified
• 48 parents mobilized and sensitized on 2020 new guidelines on pregnancy prevention and management in schools
• 48 adolescent girls mobilized and sensitized and provided sexual and reproductive health education

Challenges:

• Limited financial support to accelerate the project implementation
• Some local leaders connive with parents and marry off girl children at tender age

Recommendation:

• Child, early and forced marriage is a human violation issue and required a lot of attention globally particularly in Uganda and East Africa. The increased child, early and forced marriages undermines the efforts of the government and donors efforts put in education sector. This therefore, calls for intervention of all well-wishers to support this project.

Links:

• http://www.kagumudevelopmentorganization.org
• http://www.kagumudevelopmentorganization.org