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Empowered for change; My Journey with the Centre for Health Human Rights and Development

By Ritah Namakula | a practising midwife at Mulago Specialized Women and Neonatal Hospital and Central Regional Coordinator of the National Midwives Association of Uganda, writes about her empowerment journey with CEHURD.

Midwives are essential healthcare professionals for the provision and seamless coordination of community and facility-based maternity care. As a midwife who is passionate about human rights and sexual reproductive health (SRH), I had a challenge with advocacy for SRH. Opportunities come to those who are hungry for them. Indeed, I have received several opportunities of trainings in advocacy for SRHR from the Centre for Health Human Rights and Development organization (CEHURD).

Through these advocacy trainings with CEHURD, I have learnt expound on my networking skills, obtained effective communication skills, public speaking skills, teaching skills, research and writing skills and gained confidence while presenting policy issues. With application of such skills, I contributed to 2023/2024FY Budget Advocacy Planning regarding Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights.

CEHURD provided invaluable training sessions that broadened my perspective. These sessions emphasized the critical role of advocacy in effecting real change for those whose voices are often unheard. We delved into global issues surrounding Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), understanding deeply how these rights intersect with health outcomes worldwide.

Another challenge was understanding the importance of storytelling in advocacy. CEHURD taught me how personal narratives can drive change. I initially struggled to share my own experiences, but with guidance, I learned to craft powerful narratives for example, I shared my story of witnessing adolescents and women with unwanted pregnancies lose their lives due to unsafe abortion services, which has empowered these communities to seek safe services from trained service providers.

On many occasions we dug into policy advocacy. I learned essential skills such as research, writing compelling arguments, and presenting effectively to policymakers. This training highlighted the significant impact of influencing laws and regulations on improving people’s lives, which was particularly enlightening for me as a service provider. These experiences at CEHURD not only deepened my understanding of advocacy but also empowered me to advocate more effectively for human rights and health issues. During the training sessions, I realised that advocacy is not just about passion, but about acquiring the skills and knowledge to create meaningful change in communities

My perception of advocacy shifted significantly. It became clear that advocacy is more than just protesting or signing petitions, it’s about harnessing knowledge and compassion to foster tangible and impactful change. CEHURD also emphasized the value of teamwork, we engaged in collaborative group projects, pooling our strengths and ideas to tackle complex issues together. This experience taught me that advocacy can be more impactful when we join forces with others who share our goals and passions.

Generally, the Centre for Health Human Rights and Development has profoundly reshaped my view of advocacy. It has illuminated advocacy as a crucial instrument for promoting justice and equality. The trainings provided me with not only newfound confidence but also practical skills that have empowered me to effect real change in my ongoing advocacy efforts.

A version of this article was first published on July 23rd 2024 in the Daily Express   

 

Posted on Categories Article, Featured

About CEHURD’s Midyear Staff Retreat 2024

The CEHURD team met in Gulu in July for the mid-year staff retreat, a valuable opportunity to refresh and plan for the second half of the year. The retreat featured a series of enriching sessions, including in-depth appraisals of our institution’s key approaches, policies, and core values. This ensured that every team member was aligned and equipped to drive our mission forward.

Additionally, we warmly welcomed and oriented new staff members, introducing them to our team’s dynamic and inclusive culture. The retreat provided a platform for meaningful connections, knowledge sharing, and collaborative planning, setting us up for a productive and successful second half of the year.

Gulu District, where we held our retreat, is one of the districts where we implement our projects. In fact, we have successfully implemented three significant projects in the northern and West Nile region, including DINU, Stand 4 SRHR, and TASO Global Fund Projects OVC phase 7. These projects have enabled us to make a positive impact in the lives of the people in Gulu and surrounding areas, and we look forward to continuing our work in this region.

𝗪𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗔𝗿𝘂𝗮, 𝗠𝗮𝗱𝗶-𝗢𝗸𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼, 𝗧𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗼 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗬𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘁𝘀, 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗘𝗛𝗨𝗥𝗗’𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘁𝘀.

Mr Alfred Okuonzi, LC 5 Chairperson, West Nile Districts and focal person for NGOs and CSOs ~ ❝CEHURD has been a valuable partner in improving healthcare in Uganda, particularly in the West Nile region thereby complimenting Government efforts. He observed that CEHURD’s relationship with West Nile is like padlock and key – inseparable and made reference to CEHURD’s impactful TB contact tracing work within the last 3 years under TASO/Global Fund programme and Social Accountability and Legal Empowerment for social services under DINU project.

CEHURD’s work stands out and supports our goal of social accountability. Local Government values your role as a watchdog improving Uganda’s healthcare system and sees you as partners, not opposition.❞

Mr Okuonzi further noted that the TB detection rate is still low in the region, teenage pregnancy is 27% above national average of 24%, early marriages continue to be high, gender based violence and girls dropping out of school. He called on CEHURD to continue with the collaboration in addressing these persistent challenges and specifically requested for support in the development of Ordinances to that focus on these issues.

Mr Anyama Williams, Chairperson, West Nile Local Government Association observed that West Nile bears the burden of providing healthcare services to the districts in the region as well as the inflow of patients from neighbouring DR Congo and South Sudan, yet with no additional budget to cater for this inflow and cannot turn away patients from these countries.  

❝We appreciate the oversight responsibility of CEHURD. Please also consider paying attention to the challenge of the many young people who are already struggling with poverty and are using the little they have to buy “Mairungi”. Each week a young person spends the same amount they would spend on a bag of cement. Not many partners have picked interest in addressing this problem, yet i believe it is a social justice issue.❞

 #CEHURDStaffRetreat

Compiled by CEHURD’s Communications team.

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From a Shy to a Brave Young Advocate for Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights

My name is Catherine Nassanga, and I am 23 years old. While volunteering with MildMay in 2021, I was introduced to CEHURD through a friend. Growing up as the only girl in my family, I used to be shy, which negatively impacted my self-esteem. However, through CEHURD’s interventions, I gained confidence and now speak to many fellow young people as an advocate.

CEHURD trained me in advocacy for young people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), including budgeting, gender-based violence, gender justice, human rights-based approaches, and HIV/AIDS. In my community, young girls often faced early pregnancies, forced early marriages, or unsafe abortions due to a lack of SRHR knowledge and support.

After being empowered by CEHURD and learning about the right to demand better health services, I gained the confidence to support girls facing SRHR challenges. CEHURD’s interventions also helped me decide to pursue a course in counseling and guidance to speak to young people from a more informed background.

The advocacy spaces CEHURD provided have given me a platform to reach out to young people with SRHR knowledge and engage with policymakers to voice issues affecting youth. I have actively participated in budgeting processes, raising young people’s priorities for the national budget. During a Universal Periodic Review meeting, I argued that denying young people access to contraceptives does a disservice to them, as many are secretly or forcefully engaging in sexual activities.

I call upon other civil society organizations to provide advocacy spaces for young people to raise issues to responsible stakeholders. I also hope that CEHURD continues to support young people with this crucial information. This year, I set a target to reach out to at least 50 young people per day with SRHR knowledge and information through my youth corner at the Mildmay facility in Lweza Kajjansi, and I have reached over 7,000 young people so far.

I envision a society where gender-based violence against girls ends with my generation.

Posted on Categories Featured, General News, News

Call for Proposals to Develop A New Strategic Plan, 2025 – 2034 for Center for Health Human Rights and Development (CEHURD))

CEHURD is a Non-Governmental (NGO), not-for-profit indigenous research and advocacy organization established 15 years ago to pioneer the justiciability of the right to health by advancing social justice in health and human rights in Uganda and East Africa and has been implementing its five-year strategic plan (2020 –2024) since January 2020.

The duration of the strategic plan (SP) will come to an end in December 2024. A mid-term review (MTR) was undertaken after 2.5 years of implementation to assess progress and a detailed report is available.

CEHURD plans to engage services of a consultant with expertise in formulation and evaluation of strategic plans with an advocacy focus and who has a good understanding of issues of health, human rights sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) to support the process of developing a new strategic plan and enablers for its implementation. Deadline is July 15th 2024.

Access Call Details > Call for Application for Developing CEHURD SP

Access ToRs > CEHURD’s ToRs Strategic Plan Development

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Call for participation in the 11th Annual National Inter-University Constitutional Law Moot Court Competition

Center for Health, Human Rights and Development (CEHURD) is calling upon universities interested in participating in the 11th Annual National Inter-University Constitutional Law Moot Court Competition to fill »» this form as an expression of interest by Friday, 12th July, 2024 at 5:00 pm (EAT).

We invite different universities with schools/faculties of law in Uganda to participate in the competition scheduled for 24th and 25th October 2024.  

The 11th Annual National Inter-University Constitutional Law Moot Court Competition is taking place under the theme,“ Balancing competing priorities in championing Reproductive and Gender Equity in Uganda”.

This year’s moot has been designed to create a fertile environment for thorough discussions on Reproductive and Gender equality, social justice and equity in Uganda through the use of a hypothetical moot problem that students shall use to participate in the moot. The discussions under this theme will focus on examining the role of the formal and informal justice systems in ensuring access to reproductive health care services and enhancing gender justice for all.

Applicants will show the need for the advancement of reproductive health and gender equity through access to information by highlighting the Constitutional rights, referencing international treaties and conventions that Uganda has ratified, emphasizing the obligation to promote and protect reproductive health and gender equality.

Applicants will also focus on examining the policy, legal and regulatory frameworks as well as the structural and procedural bottlenecks to accessing reproductive health care services in Uganda, including the challenges faced by marginalized groups such as young people, rural women, women with disabilities, and adolescents.

The Moot will explore the impact and influence of faith-based narratives, as well as traditional and cultural practices on sexual and reproductive health and rights and gender justice in Uganda, further examining the legal framework for protecting women and girls from harmful traditional and cultural practices, and the role of the formal justice system in addressing these practices.

The Applicants will further examine the need to balance individual rights with the need to protect public health during emergencies as well as assessing whether the measures are appropriate and proportionate. They will raise key health issues in addressing access to comprehensive reproductive healthcare services, including access to information on family planning, safe abortions, and prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections for young people.

The students will also break down gender justice by discussing the need to address sexual and gender-based violence, discrimination, and harmful cultural practices that affect girls and young women and marginalized groups in Uganda clearly denoting how that is easier when young people are empowered with information.

Respondents will elucidate further on how religious and cultural beliefs intersect with constitutionally protected reproductive and gender related rights, what legal arguments can be made to ensure access to affordable and comprehensive reproductive health related services, whether the rights of adolescent girls and young women are protected within the current SRHR and gender rights framework of Government, or the system needs an overhaul, and how the government’s commitment to the right to health can be leveraged on to advocate for better facilities to cater for mental health.

The main objective of the Moot is to train students in practical aspects of litigating health and human rights within Uganda’s Courts of Law. This kind of arrangement helps bring out lawyers that understand key constitutional and health issues beyond what they are taught in class. The Moot specifically aspires to train students in legal writing, arguing cases in Court, professional conduct and demeanor while arguing cases and preparation of Court pleadings.

#CEHURDMOOT2024

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