WHITE RIBBON ALLIANCE UGANDA – working with communities to reduce stillbirths.
‘My name is Wanyama George Wilson. I am a VHT (Village Health Team member) from Makambo Village in Bungokho sub-county of Mbale district. I was trained to serve my community as part of the WRA/iTECH project to reduce stillbirth. My main work was to identify pregnant mothers, give them health education and refer them to iTECH for further management. To date, there are no still births in the community.’
This is the testimony of one the 80 VHTs who were trained to conduct community awareness, health education, referrals and follow ups. At the same time, says Rose Mukisa of White Ribbon Alliance Uganda, ‘Community Advisory Boards (CABs) were instituted to represent interests of the communities in four districts and to ensure that possible guidelines and policies are responsive to priorities and needs of communities.’
Working with Local Government to Advocate for RMC
Ninety Respectful Maternity Care (RMC) champions were trained, 40 at national and 50 at district levels. In addition, 51 task force members were oriented on advocacy and RMC in four districts. These have continued to support RMC advocacy and mentorship at national and local government levels. White Ribbon Alliance Uganda has continued to advocate for domestication of the RMC Charter with both Ministry of Health and Parliament. A national RMC steering team has since been instituted and has endorsed the intervention framework and training manual.
Amplifying voices of young people
Says Rose Mukisa, ‘we have also collected 40,745 voices of young people – including those who were out of school, refugees, urban poor and those with disabilities - across 21 districts in Uganda as part of the global What Young People Want campaign. The results were presented to the Ministry of Health and voices of young people amplified during the pre-safe motherhood youth conference and the Global Health Forum for Adolescents during which 50 young people from Uganda participated.’
Lifesaving “Mama Kits” for Expecting Mothers
White Ribbon Alliance Uganda has a long-established record of advocacy wins for mothers. When COVID-19 hit, Uganda experienced a national stockout of ‘Mama Kit’ supplies for expecting mothers such as soap, cotton wool, surgical gloves, and a blanket to wrap the baby. This spelled potential disaster for women across the country, and especially for refugee women and girls, given their top health demand was medicines and supplies.
In response, White Ribbon Alliance and partners advocates sprang into action, securing US$ 1.7 million for the procurement of Mama Kits from the Ministries of Health and Finance which became available to women in all public health facilities in the country.