• woodrow wilson center
  • ecsp

New Security Beat

Subscribe:
  • rss
  • mail-to
  • Who We Are
  • Topics
    • Population
    • Environment
    • Security
    • Health
    • Development
  • Columns
    • China Environment Forum
    • Choke Point
    • Dot-Mom
    • Friday Podcasts
    • Navigating the Poles
    • Reading Radar
  • Multimedia
    • Water Stories (Podcast Series)
    • Backdraft (Podcast Series)
    • Tracking the Energy Titans (Interactive)
  • Films
    • Water, Conflict, and Peacebuilding (Animated Short)
    • Paving the Way (Ethiopia)
    • Broken Landscape (India)
    • Scaling the Mountain (Nepal)
    • Healthy People, Healthy Environment (Tanzania)
  • Publications
  • Events
  • Contact Us

NewSecurityBeat

The blog of the Wilson Center's Environmental Change and Security Program
  • Dot-Mom  //  Guest Contributor

    To Accelerate Economic Growth, Uganda Should Prioritize Young People’s Health Care

    August 21, 2019 By Winfred Ongom
    Young African Leaders

    Even though it has always been said that young people are the future of society, it is important to note that we are very much present. We are ready to thrive and become productive adults. Unfortunately, many adolescents and young people are robbed of their potential. We still face a high risk of unplanned pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, teenage pregnancy, early child bearing, unsafe abortions, and dropping out of school. 

    As a nutritionist intern with Lira Regional Referral Hospital four years ago, I saw how many young people are slipping through the cracks of health care in Uganda. Teenage moms were admitted straight to the floor because there were no beds. Some could not even afford cups and plates. Teen moms were not always comfortable with midwives as old as their mothers giving them services and they had to face health workers who were not youth friendly. Seeing these problems started me on my journey in advocacy for reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health.

    As a citizen journalist with White Ribbon Alliance Uganda, I helped organize citizens’ hearings that brought together communities and duty bearers to improve their relationships and most importantly to bring all problems to the table and come up with solutions. Before the community learned about their rights, they were timid and afraid to be on the same platform with their leaders. But after multiple meetings, both the community and duty bearers learned they were partners in improving the health of their community. This is where the accountability process started, both the community and duty bearers better understood their roles and responsibilities. Some districts even made big gains by recruiting more doctors.

    Currently, Uganda has one of the youngest and most rapidly growing populations in the world, with the population under age 25 constituting more than half the total population. This presents a major demographic force with significant potential to influence not only future health trends but also our country’s socioeconomic development. With scaled up evidence-based programs, reaching more youth with timely information, services, and life skills, young people will be able to reach their fullest potential, and Uganda therefore will get to enjoy its demographic dividend, or the accelerated economic growth that may result from a decline in a country’s birth and death rates and the subsequence change in the population’s age structure. Young people who are healthy and happy are better equipped to contribute to their communities as young citizens and become productive adults.

    Unfortunately, among health issues young people face, teenage pregnancy continues to increase in Uganda with 1 in 4 girls who are 15 to 19 years old already a mother or pregnant. These teenage pregnancies also contribute to maternal deaths. Even though the government continuously ratifies different commitments and policies, they fail to deliver because investment and implementation is still poor. Young people want leaders to effectively serve them, recognizing and understanding their changing needs based on age, sex, and other factors. They also don’t want to just be seen as beneficiaries. Young people want to be part of the planning, implementing, and accountability process.

    Young people don’t only want a vote in the budget. They want to see their health integrated as a priority in all programs. For example, a look at some of the health sector strategic priorities for Financial Year 2019/20 include: upgrading health facilities by providing adequate staffing and operational funds. But this improvement should also cater to the health needs of young people with youth-friendly quality services.

    Young people’s lack of knowledge of their own rights, entitlements, and responsibilities has also affected the huge role we have in improving our health. As young people, we applaud government for its achievements in improving health and we still have lots of optimism about the health sector’s ability to foster development, as long as Uganda’s leaders invest and commit to deliver on their promises. Youth will then be empowered and be able to make choices that support the pursuit for their health, education goals, and development of life skills that lead to national development.

    Winfred Ongom is a citizen journalist with White Ribbon Alliance and has been ranked by Johnson & Johnson together with The Guardian among the top 10 young people creating change in the world.

    Sources: HuffPost, Population Reference Bureau, The Observer, United Nations.

    Photo Credit: Young African Leaders, Global Health Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Photo by Meagan Doll.

    Topics: adolescent health, demography, development, Dot-Mom, economics, family planning, featured, global health, Guest Contributor, newborn and child health, Uganda, youth

Join the Conversation

  • RSS
  • subscribe
  • facebook
  • G+
  • twitter
  • iTunes
  • podomatic
  • youtube
Tweets by NewSecurityBeat

Trending Stories

  • unfccclogo1
  • Pop at COP: Population and Family Planning at the UN Climate Negotiations

Featured Media

Backdraft Podcast

play Backdraft
Podcasts

More »

What You're Saying

  • Karachi,,Pakistan,-,Aug,22:,Residents,Are,Facing,Difficulties,Due Why was Pakistan Left out of Biden’s Climate Summit?
    The Anxious Middle: because only the worlds largest polluters were invited to tackle the problem, China, India, the EU...
  • Joyce Makasi holding her baby Charity-1 Ensuring Essential Health Care for Mothers and Newborns During the Pandemic
    Alisha Graves: Well-written and compelling story, Koki. I do wonder why cesarean delivery was recommended for her....
  • India’s Food, Water, Energy Conundrum: Conclusions From a Two-Year Reporting Project [Part 1 of 2] India’s Food, Water, Energy Conundrum: Conclusions From a Two-Year Reporting Project [Part 1 of 2]
    Sachin Shakya: Really informative and detaileda article country,” laments Gupta. In effect, says Ajay Mathur of...

Related Stories

  • 48079286236_e14c613c02_oTransforming Africa: Women and Young People Will Drive Progress
  • 33745824268_1e4e142d29_kAfrica in Transition: Highlights from a Conversation on Investing in Youth for Economic Prosperity
  • woodrow
  • ecsp
  • RSS Feed
  • YouTube
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Home
  • Who We Are
  • Publications
  • Events
  • Wilson Center
  • Contact Us
  • Print Friendly Page

© Copyright 2007-2021. Environmental Change and Security Program.

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. All rights reserved.

Developed by Vico Rock Media

Environmental Change and Security Program

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center

  • One Woodrow Wilson Plaza
  • 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
  • Washington, DC 20004-3027

T 202-691-4000