- +256 394 884 775
- info@ashwa.org
- PO. Box 544 Busia Uganda
Advocates for sustainable health & wealth in Africa
Advocates for sustainable health & wealth in Africa
Uganda has one of the fastest-growing populations in the world with 38% of its population aged between 10-24 years. Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) remain a challenge to access due to the existing barriers in getting the information and services, unsupportive laws and Policies, and access to legal/Gender Justice.
The most common challenges include the high rate of early and unwanted teenage pregnancies, early/forced marriages, new HIV infections, unsafe Abortions, Gender-Based Violence, related Maternal and Reproductive Health challenges among others.
ASHWA partners with a consortium of organizations that stand for and promote young people’s SRHR. We aim to strengthen the influence and position of marginalized, youth adolescent girls and young women whose Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) are neglected.
Through our programs, ASHWA aims to empower and truly put these young people, women and girls women in the driving seats while supporting them to impact-fully and sustainably advocate for their SRHR, participate in SRHR movement-building meaningfully, and develop campaigns that change the perceptions of policymakers and the public on their SRHR.
Menstruation is not a frequently discussed topic in most Ugandan communities and yet it presents several challenges for many teenage girls and young women. The high poverty rate in most communities is partially possible for this as most girls and women cannot afford standard sanitary pads therefore, opting to use rags, newspapers, soil, leaves and cotton wool to curb the flow of blood.
In addition, these girls and women have to endure stigmatizing attitudes that label them as “dirty”. The fear of being ashamed in front of their peers forces the girls to choose not to attend school during their periods.The frequent absenteeism makes them fall behind their male peers and later forces them to drop out of school.
ASHWA facilitates and supports training in making homemade sanitary pads with the use of the locally available materials. These trainings also provide thorough knowledge on menstrual hygiene management for adolescent girls, boys and young women.
We also support girls to effectively manage their periods to decrease the rates of school absenteeism. We believe that a reduction in these numbers will ensure that more girls get qualifications, increased access to jobs and spend more time building their confidence and life skills.
Our ultimate goal is to empower teenage girls, young women and men with skills and knowledge on menstrual hygiene and reproductive health management so that they are able to train the vulnerable girls and women.
Water and Sanitation are fundamental aspects of a healthy life. Of the three East African countries, Uganda has the worst mortality rate of children that die before the age of 5 with 22% of the deaths attributed to diarrhea.
In most cases, children contract the disease from drinking water contaminated with stool or coming into contact with their parents or guardians hands that have not been washed with clean water and soap.
In addition, these girls and women have to endure stigmatizing attitudes that label them as “dirty”. The fear of being ashamed in front of their peers forces the girls to choose not to attend school during their periods.The frequent absenteeism makes them fall behind their male peers and later forces them to drop out of school.
Educating communities is the key to increasing the practice of washing hands with soap and ending open defecation. ASHWA supports community based training that promotes change of behavior. The training emphasizes the importance of using toilets, washing hands after toilet use and drinking boiled water.
Together with other organizations and community leaders, we monitor and report progress of the training. These partnerships also promote innovative sanitation technologies and maintenance of WASH facilities to reduce the spread of diseases like diarrhea.
Not all children and new mothers in Uganda have the best chance at life. Most children below the age of 5 born in rural areas to uneducated mothers and new mothers are more likely to die. The major causes of death include preventable diseases and conditions such as unsafe abortions, hypertensive disorders, infections, heavy blood loss after birth, malaria, pneumonia, diarrhoea and HIV.
These deaths can be avoided. For both new mothers and their infants, good quality care at childbirth, equitable health services and adequate family-care practices contribute significantly to whether they live or not.
ASHWA employs the nutrition care group inclusive approach to influence WASH, RMNC and Nutrition behaviors, improve appropriate health care utilization, achieve demonstrable benefits in the health of mothers, neonates,children and empower women in their communities.
Through these comprehensive approaches, we strengthen community systems, improve nutrition by addressing issues critical to the health of the mothers, new-borns and young children in our communities.
In order to realize sustainable health measures and scale up nutritional interventions in Busia district, ASHWA pays particular attention to enhancing the delivery of essential nutrition services to pregnant women, infants and young children during the first 1,000 days from conception to 24 months of age.
Kezia’s dream of financial freedom has landed.
Kezia, a 15 year old mother, was ignorant about the nutritional requirements she needed as a new mother. Because of this, her one month old baby was malnourished and frequently falling sick.
Her baby’s health started improving when she joined the Buyengo Nutrition Care Group (NCG) where she was equipped with the knowledge about nutrition and backyard gardening. The care group was established and strengthened by ASHWA through the Scaling Up Nutrition Interventions (SUNI) in Busia district to reduce maternal and child mortality by addressing issues critical to the health of new mothers, newborns and young children.
“My daughter gave birth during a very difficult time.I had just lost my job during the lockdown and couldn’t care for her baby. I thank ASHWA for skilling her in kitchen gardening. Our household now has enough food and she’s able to earn money to look after her baby” Kezia’s mother
